


Love At It's Purest

by AbsolutelyNot2801



Category: Sterek - Fandom, teen wolf - Fandom
Genre: AU- human, Acceptance, Angst, Awkwardness, Brothers, Comfort, Crying Derek, Cuddling, Cuddling & Snuggling, Denial, Derek Misses Stiles, Derek in Denial, Derek is actually a marshmellow, Derek leaves for college, F/M, Fall Break, Feels, Getting Together, Guilt, Happy Ending, Hurt Stiles, Hurt feelings, I'm sorry for all the angst, Like really slow, M/M, Not gonna tag all the sex stuff because there's so much oops, Oblivious Family, Regret, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Slow Build, So much angst, Step-parents, Stiles gets better, Stiles keeps getting hurt, Stiles misses Derek, Stilinski-Hales, Talia and John are married, This fic is actually pretty fluffy, UST, Upset Derek, Winter, but I hope you don't take it that way, coming home, eventually, handjobs, psuedo incest, so much denial it hurts, step-brother, stiles in a coma, upset stiles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2018-08-16 22:13:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8119492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbsolutelyNot2801/pseuds/AbsolutelyNot2801
Summary: Sometimes Derek does things that makes Stiles think his crush is not completely one-sided, like gentle touches, soothing words and embraces like the one they were in that morning. And then he goes and does something stupid like getting a stupid girlfriend like Jennifer. It’s not because of Jennifer at all really. She’s lovely. But Stiles can’t help the hint of jealousy when he sees the loving gazes and soft, shy smiles.And this is his step-brother he’s talking about. His step-brother!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Or a fic in which Stiles and Derek can’t help falling in love with each other. But there's a problem, they're step brothers. A fic with angst, feels and a happy ending.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Yes, this fic was up yesterday, and I accidentally deleted it while editing so I have written it out again for you guys. So sorry to everybody who had bookmarks or had already read it. 
> 
> Anyways, this is my first time ever writing a fic and I would gratefully appreciate any comments, reviews or advice you have to offer in the comment section below.
> 
> Give this fic a go and if it's not for you that's totally okay!
> 
> Enjoy!

He slammed the door shut with all the force he could gather. This couldn't be happening. He must be seeing things, but no, he can still hear her stupid, girly giggle and his deep, husky chuckle.

It's stupid really. When your brother gets a girlfriend you tease him about it. But here Stiles sat, tears streaming down his face with the feeling of betrayal running through his blood. Stiles knows he shouldn't be feeling like this. He knows it would be viewed badly by the world outside.

Sometimes Derek does things that makes Stiles think his crush is not completely one-sided, like gentle touches, soothing words and embraces. And then he goes and does something stupid like getting a stupid girlfriend like Jennifer. It’s not because of Jennifer at all really. She’s lovely. But Stiles can’t help the hint of jealousy when he sees the loving gazes and soft, shy smiles.

And this is his step-brother he’s talking about. His _step-brother! ___

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles doesn't know how long he sat there, but he's pulled from his thoughts by a gentle tap of knuckles on his door.

"Stiles," came Derek's unsure voice, "can I come in?"

"Yeah, yeah just hold up a sec."

He quickly gathered himself and wiped his tear-stained face with his red hoodie sleeve as he rose from the ground to open the door.

"Hey dude, what's up?"

"Stiles, what happened down there?"

"Oh, I just remembered I had to send Lydia my half of the assignment by tonight and I was worried I hadn't saved it or something like that. Lydia's really scary when she wants to be, you know." Stiles knew he was rambling, but he couldn't stop himself. Once the words started flowing they couldn't stop." It's not about your girlfriend if that's what your thinking. I mean - why would it be about your girlfriend? Jennifer's lovely. She great, pretty, aweso- wow, I really need to stop rambling, sorry, I'll shut up now."

Derek chuckled and gently ruffled Stiles' hair.

"Well I'm glad to get your approval. Is there anything I can do to help with your homework?" He asked, inviting himself in.

Stiles shut the door and turned around just in time to get a perfect view of Derek's gorgeous ass and they way his muscles clenched and flexed when he walks. Man, what he would do to get his hands on tha-no, he's not going down that road.

Derek is his brother.

"Um, you can proof read it, I guess?" Stiles said as he joined his step-brother on the bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles woke up the next morning awfully hard in his jeans and tucked up against a hard wall of muscle. He snuggled closer into Derek's embrace until he noticed what was going on, his body going still. Derek's arm was flung over his waist, Stiles' hand covering Derek's where it lay gently against his hip, their legs tangled together over the sheets of the bed.

The realization of this explained what happened and Stiles noticeably relaxed. They must have fallen asleep while doing homework. But that doesn't change the fact that they are cuddling too intimately to be recognised as platonic and he was still painfully hard in in his jean—wait a second what's that? Something sharp was digging into Stiles' thigh. Something that can only be described as Derek's hard dick pressing dangerously close to his hole.

Stiles took a deep breath, waking Derek up.

"Oh, hey Stiles." He says. Momentarily pulling Stiles closer before realising the compromising position they were in.

"Shit! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep, I've just been really tired lately."

"Nah, dude, it's totally cool. Fine, great, acceptable, ah, whatever you call it." Stiles couldn't help it. Rambling was his thing.

Derek let out a soft chuckle that pulled at strings in his insides making him go fuzzy all over, a soft smile pulling at his lips as he felt a blush creep further up his face.

Almost at once, they both realised they were still in this position, and pulled apart so fast it was as if they were gonna catch on fire being too close.

"Well, I'm gonna jump in the shower before Scott or Isaac steal it first. See you soon, Stiles.

"Yeah, yeah okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two years ago John Stilinski and Talia Hale got married. They were dancing around each other for over four years, careful not to step on any toes due to Claudia Stilinskis death and the abusive relationship Talia was in with Michael Hale.

So Talia Hale and her three sons, Derek Hale, Scott Hale and Isaac Hale all moved in with Stiles and his dad, becoming one family now known as; Stilinski-Hale.

Scott and Isaac are like his actual brothers. And he loves them completely platonically. He doesn't know what it is about Derek but everything is just so different when it comes to him.

And this is still his step-brother he's talking about. His step-brother!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiles shivers as he runs after Isaac and Scott in the snow, Derek at his tail. This is how they play. Chase each other until they are soaked to the bone, shivering and laughing so hard they are out of breath. He sees Scott tackle Isaac down to the ground as he hears Derek's footsteps getting closer.

Suddenly, he is pushed down to the ground and rolls down a hill, tumbling with a hard rock of muscle that could only be described as his step-brother, Derek Hale. He lands with a thud on the ground, Derek landing right on top of him, his body pressed right along the length of his and his face only centimetres apart. Derek's breath against his lips, he shamefully drops his eyes to look at Derek's full plump lips only dragging his eyes up fast enough to see Derek dragging his eyes up from his own. A smug sort of satisfaction runs through his body at this.

"Caught you." Derek says breathlessly. Tucking his head into Stiles neck, the scrape of his scruff sending tingles down to Stiles' cock.

"Yeah." Stiles whispers, "you did."

From the corners of his eyes -unable to drag his eyes away from Derek's beautifully structured face, - he sees Isaac and Scott running down the hill towards them. When Derek follows his trail of sight, he jumps back as if he was burnt, a slight pink blush rising to the surface of his stubbly cheeks.

"Hey guys," Scott says, "Mum made us some hot chocolate and says we have to come in now."

"Yeah, we'll be right in."

Derek offered Stiles his hand to help him up, a friendly, brotherly gesture, that may or may not have lingered for a little longer than necessary.

"Come on, let's go."

Just as Stiles got up he found his feet tripping over a frozen boulder of ice and tumbling the rest of they way down the hill, hitting his head on something hard before his vision went black, faintly hearing his name being called out in the background.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Derek's point of view)

"STILES!!!!!"

His heart was plummeting at a fast rate and his vision was going blurry at the little crack he heard before Stiles' body went unconsciously still.

He ran down the hill, tripping up almost every five steps he took. Until he reached Stiles' cold body. Tears blurred his vision as he carefully lifted him up and saw the small trickle of blood from his scalp that had stained the boulder of ice his head he obviously hit on the way down, staining the white snow with a deep red. He ran, half stumbled his way back to the house, yelling for help.

They need to get Stiles to the hospital fast.

Sure, he's not always the kindest to Stiles, and he could put more effort into understanding him. But he finds that hard when every time Stiles looks up at Derek with those honey doe-eyes, the pale skin with the perfectly scattered moles, and cherry plump lips, he gets a twisted feeling in his chest that he doesn't want to understand.

But if something happens to Stiles, he doesn't know what he'd do.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here's the second chapter! I told you guys I would try update as soon as possible, so here you go! Please note this work does not have a beta. 
> 
> Information I thought you may want to know: Ages....  
> Stiles, Scott: 17  
> Derek: 20  
> Isaac: 15
> 
> Please leave comments below and let me know what yo would like to see in this fic as I am very open to suggestions. I hope you enjoy!

(Derek)

Derek could feel his heart rate accelerating as he burst through the door of the Hale-Stilinski household. 

"MUM! JOHN! SCOTT! ISAAC! GET DOWN HERE NOW! IT'S STILES!"

Four pairs of feet came tumbling down the stairs and through the corridor where Derek was carefully and gently laying Stiles' unconscious body down.

"What THE FUCK did you do Derek?" John yelled at him. Derek stumbled at the harsh tone of his step-fathers usually kind and gentle voice. Before Derek could answer guiltily, his mum retorted.

"John! You know Derek wouldn't do anything to hurt Stiles! Stop acting so selfishly! Get down here and help us get him into the car and to the hospital!" She fumed, " Derek, what happened?"

"We were just playing chase out in the snow and we got up to come back inside when Stiles slipped over and went tumbling down the hill." He quickly relayed the information and he felt he rise to his cheeks as he remembered the intimate - platonic - situation they were in. What the fuck is his problem? His brother is sitting there injured and this is what he's thinking about?! "His head is bleeding and I brought him here as fast as I could! But we need to get him to a hospital right now!"

Talia, John, Derek and Scott carefully picked Stiles' cold body up, wrapped him in layers of blankets and dry clothes that Isaac had fetched for them and gently placed him in the back of the car. 

The ride to the hospital went in a rush and Derek couldn't focus on anything other than the paleness of Stile's cheeks and how his usually flailing limbs were so utterly still. He wrapped his shaking fingers around Stiles' wrist, finding an anchor in the slow but strong beat of Stiles' heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Stiles)

Stiles could hear the annoying beeping of a heart monitor go crazy as light came bleeding into his sight and took a deep breath.

"Stiles? Stiles!" he heard a relieved voice, and was immediately pushed down by warm hands as he was told to relax. He slowly opened his to see Derek looming over him, a soft smile playing on his lips that he couldn't help but return. "Thank god! Your awake."

All of a sudden nurses and doctors came rushing into the room and Stiles was pulled out of his trance to be examined. Lights were being flashed into his eyes, his limbs being checked over.

"Mr Stilinski, I'm Doctor Kennick, you're at the Beacon Hills Hospital, can you tell me your name?"

"If I told you my real name we'll be here all day," when his joke fell flat he decided to continue. "I'm Stiles, I fell while running out in the snow, that's the last I remember."

"That's correct, Mr Stilinski, you have only been unconscious for a couple of hours and your injuries were luckily minimal, and the blood you lost through the scratches on your scalp were cleaned of blood, although we did have to shave a bit of your hair to reach the injuries, of course with the conformation of your parents."

Stiles froze at this, reached around the back of his head and although it was painful to touch the sensitive area, sure enough he had a bald patch right in the middle of his head. 

"Greeeeeeeatttt," he whined, "now I'm gonna have to get my hair cut again, I'm getting de-ja-vu of third grade!"

Derek chuckled at this as Stiles remembered something important.

"Derek," getting his attention, "where are the others?"

"They went down to the cafe to take a break, Scott and Isaac weren't taking it well. Look I'm sorry, if I had been paying more attenti-"

"WHAT! Don't you dare think this is your fault! Oh Derek.... you and your self-pity! Unless you pushed me down that hill you have absolutely nothing to be sorry about."

Derek smiled crookedly and Stiles shook his head at him in fond exasperation. 

"I'll call the others to let them know your awak-" Just as Derek was pulling his phone out, it let out a piercing ring into the silent room and Stiles could only guess who it was when Derek's face lit up and he could literally see love hearts popping out of his eyes. Of course. Jennifer.

"Hey, Jenn." Derek answered fondly and Stiles's heart dropped to the floor with envy. Not that he has any right, this is his brother! Well at least he knows his fall didn't remove any of his craziness. Great.

Derek's face seemed to fall and although Stiles couldn't make out any words he knew Jennifer was yelling. 

"Jenn, just hold up a second, surely you can understan--"

More yelling.

"No, just listen to m-"

Derek's eyes seemed to fog up with tears.

"I'm sorry, okay! I couldn't make it because Stiles is in the hospital! He's my brother! I couldn't just leave him!" Although the sting of being reminded Derek was his brother was painful, he couldn't help but feel smug as Derek stood up for him about whatever shit Jennifer was saying. 

"WELL THEN YOU CAN GO FUCK YOURSELF, YOU SELFISH LITTLE BITCH, WE'RE OVER!" Derek fumed as he hung up on Jennifer in a hurry.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, she's a little bitch who cares about nothing but herself and her image." He apologised.

"Why was she so angry?"

"We were supposed to go on a date tonight, and apparently you being in the hospital doesn't mean 'you leave your girlfriend hanging, Derek!' " He mimicked. The room fell silent and all that could be heard was Derek's heavy breathing and the sound of the heart monitor beeping rhythmically.

"I'm sorry." Stiles supplies quietly.

"What for?"

"If I hadn't gotten injured you would have gone on your date and wouldn't have broken up. It's all my fault and I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault Stiles, it was a long time coming anyway. It's for the best really, seeing as I'm moving for college in a few days anyway."

The painful reminder hit Stiles like bomb to the chest just in time for Scott and Isaac to run in closely followed by Talia and his dad.

Yeah, he forgot. Derek is leaving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That evening Stiles was discharged from the hospital. He, Scott and Isaac were currently sitting in front of the TV binge watching Marvel movies.

On the way back from the hospital, his dad had taken him to the hairdressers to get his hair cut and he was now sporting is unfortunately familiar buzz cut.

It's been a while since he's been able to hang out with Scott and Isaac; even though they live under the same roof. It's nice. They get along well. And if Stiles is being completely honest with himself, he's glad for the distraction. Talia pops her head in from the kitchen a few minutes later.

"You boys want anything?"

"Nah, we're okay." and "Mum! We're trying to watch!" were her replies.

"Well you better finish up the movie quickly and get to bed. Tomorrows a big day."

"What's tomorrow?" Stiles asked curiously.

"We have a long drive down to Derek's college to help him get set up before he leaves in a couple of days remember?"

"Oh," he answered quietly, "yeah, I remember."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive down to the college took two hours the following day. They went in two cars; Talia, John and Isaac in one, Derek, Stiles and Scott in the other.

Currently, Scott was in the back fast asleep from staying up all night watching Marvel movies, and Stiles and Derek were having a conversation in hushed tones.

"No. No, no, no, no and NO. Batman is soooooo much better! Are you stupid or something?"

"Stiles. Are you fucking kidding me? Superman is the almighty hero."

"NO DEREK! I can prove it to you. In the fir-"

Derek chuckled fondly as he interrupted; "Okay Stiles we will have to see about that when the movie comes out. We'll make a bet; if batman wins, I owe you 50 bucks, and if Superman wins, you owe me 50 bucks. Deal?"

Stiles shook his hand firmly while doing his best to glare at Derek without laughing. This is one of the things he was gonna miss. Their playful banter.

They arrived at the dorms not long after and Stiles, Scott and Isaac laughed their heads off at the disgusted face Derek made when he saw the tiny dorm rooms.

They went shopping at the closest Walmart, bought Derek sheets for his bed and cutlery alongside other useful bits and pieces, and then settled on a restaurant to have dinner at, in which, during said dinner, Stiles was pressed up against the length of Derek's built body as their family squished up together in the only available booth.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive back home was much faster than the way to the dorms and although Stiles joined his family in celebrating Derek's last few days, his inside were twisting in dread as the day crept suspiciously closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed that chapter! I will, once again, try to update asap. 
> 
> Coming up....
> 
> Derek is moving to college and Stiles is dreading his departure and the consequences that have come with it.
> 
> Please leave comments or advice below, and let me know of anything you would like to see in this fic!
> 
> Thanks all:)


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I wasn't gonna start writing this chapter or upload it until at least tomorrow, but I couldn't help myself.  
> This work does not have a beta. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please leave any comments/advice/things you want to see in this fic in the comment section below as I am open for suggestions. Things are starting to get s little spicy in this chapter.
> 
> ENJOY!

(Stiles)

Today was the day he was dreading. The day Derek leaves for college. You would think the day would be all sunshine and rainbows while they all celebrate the success that is Derek Hale. And while Stiles plasters a smile on his face and joins their family in congratulating Derek, his insides are being torn apart. His family starts giving him worried glances when he laughs at things that weren't even remotely funny, way too hard, and the truth is, if stops laughing he's just gonna burst into tears. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Derek)

Derek got up bright and early that morning and walked out onto the balcony. The view of their preserve still takes away his breath and it's the little things like this that almost persuade him to not leave. He's gonna miss his mum dearly and all her home-made cooking. He's gonna miss John and the way he's always trying to teach Derek about the law enforcement. He's gonna miss Scott and the goodness of his heart. He's gonna miss Isaac and the cuddles he still likes to give. And he's gonna miss Stiles because of-where does he begin? He tries not to think about it because if he does, he knows he could easily persuade himself to stay. He knows he doesn't love Stiles the same way he loves Scott and Isaac and it's not just because they don't have the same parents and it doesn't mean he doesn't love Stiles; there are just different ways to love, and Stiles is- he's not gonna go down that road.

His long time friend, Vernon Boyd, or Boyd as he likes to be called will be picking him up and they will travel down together. Boyd has been Derek's friend ever since the start of high school- where they bonded over their mutual interest of glaring at people and being socially constipated,- and is loyal to a fault. Fortunately, they both got into the same college. Boyd has met his mum, John and Isaac before but Stiles and Scott were never around at the same time to meet him.

Derek is awoken from his thoughts when he hears a knock on the door of his bedroom. He opens it to find John and Talia standing there, his mum with tears in her eyes.

"We're just so proud of you." John explains when he asks what's wrong. And then commenced into smothering him with hugs and kisses. If anyone asked, he protested, but the truth is he was welcoming as much affection as he could get. He was gonna miss it. A lot.

Derek decided to go for his morning run to burn of the nerves and came home to have a quick shower before getting things ready for the day. While scraping through his drawers to see if he left anything important behind, he finds the photos of he took at Talia and John's wedding. One of him with Scott smiling cheesily, one of him with Isaac laughing their heads off and something surely Stiles said or did, and one of him and Stiles looking at each other with genuine grins on their faces and arms around each others waists and shoulders. These photos are followed up with pictures of his family and he gets so caught up in his sadness he doesn't notice Stiles coming into his room. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Stiles)

The sun shines through his opened curtains early that morning. Stiles gets up, washes his face, takes a piss, brushes his teeth and makes his way down the corridor towards Derek's bedroom. Just because Stiles- deniably- has a crush on his step-brother, it doesn't mean he can't do step-brotherly things and get away with it. So he sneaks past Scott and Isaac's rooms and slides in behind the slightly ajar door.

Derek's back is faced towards him looking down at something in his hands, and he takes this as the perfect opportunity.

He runs at Derek who is obviously now aware of his presence and turns just in time to catch Stiles flinging himself onto him. This is how it used to be when they were younger. Tussling and rolling about with each other, as they are now. Derek throws Stiles down onto the bed grinning down at him before flopping himself down on top of him and tickling the breath out of his lungs until he's pulling at Derek's hair, silently and breathlessly begging for mercy. 

Eventually, Derek stops tickling him and Stiles takes it as an opportunity to flip him over and tak- wait, what's that in Derek's hand?

Surely enough, Derek is holding the photo of him and Stiles at his dad's and Talia's wedding and Stiles stares at the old thing in awe. They look so- words can't describe it. Slowly Stiles drags his eyes back to Derek and sees him hungrily staring at Stiles' lips. Fuck it, Stiles thinks. He leans down getting closer and closer to what he's only imagined in his jerk-off sessions. Their noses bump each other and Stiles subconsciously sees Derek lick his lip and then mimicks the action. Their mouths are only inches apart and Stiles is about to attack Dereks' lips with his own when- a knock comes from the door and they jump apart like they're about to be lit on fire. Stiles sees the deep blush on Derek's face which he's sure resembles his own as he makes his way to the door to let Scott in and make his escape.

What the fuck was that? Stiles is so stupid. This is his step-brother. His _step-brother. ___

__Stiles swears he'll never be able to look at Derek in the eye again._ _

__But it's not like Derek stopped him right? He could have easily pulled away or told Stiles to get out, but he didn't. And although that eases the slight burn in his chest, the guilt is over-riding any hope he might be holding onto._ _

__He rushes into the bathroom, fully aware of the hard-on he's sporting and jumps in the bath to take a cold shower._ _

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Derek)_ _

__Derek doesn't know what the fuck that was. It wasn't like he didn't want it- believe me he did, but this is his step-brother. His _step-brother. _____

____And even though yes, they're not related in any way biologically, they are still family and this would be frowned upon. What would his parents say? They have to keep this a secret or they could ruin this family forever. Derek is so fucking stupid for even letting it get as far as it did. Stiles is only _fifteen, _he doesn't know what he wants. And even if he does, it's not rude, grumpy, socially constipated Derek. His _step-brother, _might he add._____ _ _ _

________He quickly stuffs things into his bag, using the excuse of packing to get Scott out of his room so he can have some space to think._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Derek, Stiles, Isaac, Scott, breakfast is ready!" John calls from downstairs, startling Derek from his thoughts._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Shit, Derek has to face Stiles right now. Obviously he was gonna have to talk to him eventually, but he nearly _kissed _him less than ten minutes ago.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Shit. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Derek quickly jogged down the stairs. The sooner he finishes, the quicker he can get out of there, right?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He entered the dining room and everyone was already seated in their seats, everyone smiling at him-except Stiles, who was obviously averting Derek's eyes. Did Stiles feel guilty? Sure he may of initiated it, but Derek was older and he had almost let it happen. He should be the one feeling guilty._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Unfortunately for him, his designated spot was right next to Stiles, and sitting anywhere else would raise suspicion. So he sat down, fingers briefly -and accidentally- brushing against Stiles' thigh, who visibly winced away from his touch._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________"Hey, everything alright sweetheart?" His mum asked him as she served him some scrambled eggs._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________"Yea, everything's great." He replied, sporting the cheesiest and most fake smile he could. They all know when he's in this mood, to let him be and he'd come around by himself._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Not long after, Isaac and Scott emerged into a conversation with John and Talia began talking to Stiles. Derek felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out to see a message from Boyd._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________  
To: Derek  
From: Boyd_

_____________8:15 AM: Hey, are you all packed?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________  
To: Boyd  
From: Derek_ _ _

_______________8:16AM: Yeah all ready to go man. See you tonight!_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________  
To: Derek  
From: Boyd_ _ _ _

________________8:18AM: Yeah, about that man, Erica's coming to campus early today, so I was wondering if you wanted to leave a little earlier than we originally planned? ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________8:21AM  
To: Boyd  
From: Derek _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________8:21AM:Yeah sure man, what time? ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________8:22AM  
To: Derek  
From: Boyd_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________8:22AM:Ah, I was thinking in about an hour? ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________His family must have sensed something was wrong by the frown on his face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________"Okay, now you're worrying us darling," his mother said,"what's going on?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________"Um, Boyd wants to leave in an hour instead of tonight."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________"What! Derek!" Isaac complained, "but we were supposed to play in the snow before you went."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________Another vibration brought his thoughts back to his phone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________  
To: Derek  
From: Boyd_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________8:26AM: Plus we need to get a move on or the snow will be too heavy for us to leave. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________"I'm sorry, Isaac but we need to leave or the snow's gonna trap us in."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________John perked up at this, "Son, if it's not safe to drive down, you ca-"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________"No it's fine," Derek interrupted, "we'll be safe."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________Derek chanced a glance at Stiles, and his blank expression pushed him to send the next message._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________  
To: Boyd  
From: Derek_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________8:30AM: It's fine, just come pick me up now. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________Boyd arrived at his house only ten minutes later and invited him inside while Derek said his goodbyes. He decides to introduce Boyd to Stiles and Scott._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________"Boyd, this is my brother, Scott. Scott, this is Boyd."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________They shook hands politely and gave each other friendly grins._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________"Boyd, this is my..." Derek paused trying to find the right words. The room went dead silent as everyone stared at Derek in shock, Stiles face of betrayal tearing his heart in two. But what is Stiles to him? A brother? He decides to continue as if nothing unusual was going on. "This is Stiles. Stiles, this is Boyd."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________Boyd stuck his hand out and Derek gave Stiles a pleading look. Thankfully, Stiles shook Boyd's hand, although obviously too hard. He then followed this act by storming up the stairs and slamming the door shut so forcefully you could feel the house shake._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Stiles)_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________It hurts. It hurts so bad. He knows Derek doesn't think of him in a romantic way but he thought he at least thought of him as a brother. Is Stiles really that repulsive that Derek doesn't even want to tell his closest friend he's family with someone like Stiles._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________He can hear the silence downstairs for minutes, as if someone is waiting for a bomb to go off. And then he hears everyone attack Derek with lectures and comments of disapproval at once._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________He can hear Derek saying good bye to everyone one by one._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________He can hear Talia crying and his dad making Derek promise he'll call and visit._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________He can hear Derek telling Boyd to wait in the car._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________And shit, he can hear Derek climbing up the stairs as his footsteps get closer to his room. Stiles furiously wipes away his tears. He's not gonna give Derek the pleasure of seeing him cry._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________"Stiles," came a little knock at the door, "I'm coming in."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________"Look Derek," Stiles spat at him when he entered the room, "I don't care about what it is you've got to say. I don't know what that was this morning and I don't know what the fuck that was just down there but if you think you can treat me like that, well you're wrong. When did you start hating me, hmm? Tell me Derek, because I thought you were my brother. I thought you thought of my like a brother too and-"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________"YOU'RE NOT MY BROTHER!" Came Derek's booming voice. Stiles was taken aback by the sudden roughness of Derek's voice and took a step back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________"What?" He whispered quietly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________Derek seemed to gather himself at the vulnerability that was bleeding through Stiles' voice. But Stiles didn't give him time to answer._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________"So, you think of Scott and Isaac as your brothers, but why not me?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________Derek looked in pain while answering, "It's- I- It's just that- Your different, okay?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________Stiles couldn't stop the spark of hope that lit up in his chest at that. He took a few steps forward until Derek was at arms length._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________"Different?' He questioned quietly. Derek nodded while easily averting his eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________Stiles grabbed his chin and forced him to look at him. He stepped an inch closer until he was pressed right up against Derek and he could easily see the unshed tears in his eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________"Tell me I'm reading this properly." Stiles whispered, unable to stop his eyes from drifting down to Derek's lips. "Tell me I'm not imagining this."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________Derek let a tear fall and Stiles subconsciously wiped it away with his thumb, his fingers now gently cradling Derek's surprisingly soft face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________Derek cleared his throat before finally pulling himself together and answering, "I'm sorry Stiles, I am. But we can't do this. It's not right."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________Stiles' heart dropped to the ground before plummeting right back up again when Derek placed a soft and gentle kiss on his cheek, before pulling him into a rough hug and burying his head in Stiles' neck. Although Stiles was disappointed, he'll take what he can get and deeply inhaled the scent that was pure Derek. Derek pulled away an inch staring deeply into Stiles' eyes before pulling away completely and leaving the room with out another glance._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________He can hear Derek going back down the stairs._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________He can hear his family yelling goodbyes from their porch as the car pulled away._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________And he can hear his heart breaking in two and the familiar feeling that can only be described as rejection._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of chapter three! I know this chapter was longer than the first two but we are getting closer and closer to the main events! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and as always I am open to suggestions, advice and comments. I know I updated three times in one day but I got really excited. I don't think there will be anymore updates today although I will try to update as soon as I can.
> 
> Thanks all and please, please review :)


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I know that first couple of chapters were out and posted much faster than this one, so tried to get this one done as fast as I could for you.
> 
> Thank You to anyone who left comments/kudos or bookmarked/subscribed to this work. The fact that anyone is even reading this amazing.
> 
> I'm feel this fic coming into shape and I'm starting to set the pace. 
> 
> Please tell me in the comments whether you'd rather see this come together with slow build Sterek, or at a faster pace. I have a general idea of where this fic is heading but if you let me know what you guys would like to see it would definitely clarify some of the finer details.
> 
> I also feel like I should explore Stiles' relationships with the other characters as well as with Derek.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

(Stiles)

"Are you sure you want to do this man? We suck at sports." Scott said.

It's been a couple of weeks since Derek left. 34 days to be exact- not that he was counting or anything like that.In Stiles eyes he's been coping fantastically. Continuing with life as if the little debacle had never occurred. Frankly, not much has changed apart from the fact that Derek's dirty laundry isn't lying all around the house as it usually is, and his absence is felt through his family. 

Stiles didn't rely on Derek that much while he was still living with him. So his absence hasn't had a major affect on the aspects _in _Stiles' life, but rather Stiles' life in general. But there's no need open up closed wounds by going there any further.__

__Stiles can however admit that yes, he missed him- that much can be expected. He's his brother after all._ _

__And although Derek's absence has had a toll on Stiles' life, he's found a solution._ _

__Instead of moping around the house and making people suspicious, he needs a distraction. And what's a better distraction then focusing on his abandoned ten year plan to win over Lydia Martin? Queen, Goddess, an Angel from Heaven. Stiles has been in love with her since the third grade and just because he has- _had _a little crush on his step-brother it doesn't mean he doesn't still think he and Lydia are soulmates. He planned out their life together when he was eight years old for goodness sake.___ _

____Said distraction is what led him to be standing here; in front of the Beacon Hills High School Sport Sign-up Board._ _ _ _

____"Come on dude, we need to be more ambitious. It's the start of a new semester. We are changed men. Come on just pick a sport."_ _ _ _

____"Okay, okay." Scott gave in. "What about basketball?"_ _ _ _

____"Basketball! Are you insane Scott? Those guys are like triple are height and weight put together."_ _ _ _

____"Hey you're the one who wants to play a sport this semester. Why can't we just sign up for Spanish club or something?"_ _ _ _

____"Spanish, Scott. Really? I'm not gonna even address that suggestion with an answer. What about lacrosse?"_ _ _ _

____"OMG I KNEW IT!!!" This is just to win over Lydia isn't it? Look I know you've been in love with her since the third grade but joining the lacrosse team isn't gonna get you closer to Lydia just because her boyfriend's on the team! That guy is fucked up!" Scott yelped in realisation._ _ _ _

____"Shhhh Scott! Can you be any more subtle?"_ _ _ _

____"Bro, I thought you were giving up on that whole thing and were accepting the most you guys will be is friends."_ _ _ _

____"Nevermind you, Scottie, my boy! So what do you say? Lacrosse?"_ _ _ _

____"You do know that Jack-ass Whittemore is the captain of the team right?"_ _ _ _

____"Well, we don't need to interact or anything like that, just get into the team, even if we're just bench warmers."_ _ _ _

____"Man, the things I do for you."_ _ _ _

____"And this is why you're not only my brother, but my best friend too!" Stiles says ruffling Scotts' hair while he rolls his eyes amused._ _ _ _

____~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _ _ _

"Okay lets do this Scottie!"

"I'm gonna kill you for this."

With that, they began running the five km warm up coach had yelled at them all to do and came in running back to the field in last equal, everyone else already moving on to the next task. Coach's booming voice is what startled them from their hyperventilation,

"Hale, Bilinski! Get your asses back on this field!"

The game didn't end up going too well for Stiles, but Scott remarkably scored a couple of goals with the support of enthusiastic cheering of Allison Argent- the new girl he happened to be lusting after.

At the end of the trials, the team was announced. Scott getting into first line and Stiles gaining the position of bench warmer; which they were both ecstatic about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That evening, Scott and Stiles walked in to the house to find their parents and Isaac huddled on the couch on Skype with Derek. Seeing his face was a pleasure and a blow to the gut. It's not like they haven't spoken at _all, _they just send the occasional _hey, _ _how _ _are _ _u? _or _how's _ _the _ _college _ _life? _and always receive the vaguest of answers. Talia's voice pulled him out of his thoughts,__________________

______"Oh hey my darlings! Come say hi to Derek!"_ _ _ _ _ _

______They both walked over to the couch, and although Stiles was happy to see Derek-he was, okay?- Scotts smile was more genuine._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Hey!" He and Scott said in unison._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Derek was just going to tell us if there are any hot girls, or guys, down at the college." Isaac says with a wink towards the screen._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Isaac!" Talia and John both exclaimed._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Well? Are there?" Scott prodded mischievously, their parents giving up with baffled but secretly amused expressions._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Well yeah, there are some here and there, but I think I'm gonna focus on studying for awhile, I don't wanna lose my scholarship."_ _ _ _ _ _

______Stiles let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding and secretly felt relieved at Derek's answer before the guilt hit him with a _pang. _____ _ _ _ _

________He caught Derek's eyes for a moment and offered a genuine smile, receiving a small private smile in return before averting his eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"You won't guess what Stiles and I did today!" Scott said excitedly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"What?'_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"We joined the lacrosse team!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Yes! That's my boys!" They heard John reply with a mixture of Talias' "That's really good boys!" and Isaacs' "And? Did you get in?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Stiles felt his face light up as he delivered the news._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Fuck yeah we got in!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Stiles! Language!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Sorry Dad." He mumbled before continuing, "I'm a bench warmer for now but Scott got first line! Man, you should have seen him! He was amazing! Got three shots in the first 15 minutes of the game! Lacrosse is your calling man! I told you we should play!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Scott snorted before adding,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Stiles only wants to play to get the attention of Lydia Martin."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He heard Isaac snorting and saw Talia and John sharing a genuine smile at this remark, but Stiles was focusing on Derek's face- which wore a tiny smirk- through the screen which seemed to be thoroughly examining his own. Stiles felt vulnerable and self-conscious under his stare before averting his eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"I stink! I'm gonna jump in the shower." He excused himself, "Bye, Derek." He added as an afterthought._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Bye, Stiles." Derek replied, the tone of his voice an octave lower._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Stiles left the room grabbing a towel from the towel rack and jumping into the shower, hearing the faint sounds of his family's laughter in the background._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
At around midnight that same night, Stiles woke up to the sound of his cellphone vibrating on his bedside table. He scrambled out of bed fumbling in the dark with a bunch of curse words every time he hit something on the way. He reached his phone with minimal injuries to see one missed call from Derek. Stiles began to panic. Was he okay? Just as he went to call Derek back, his phone started vibrating again with another call from Derek. He answered in a hurry.

"Derek? Are you okay?'

"S'tles? Why are you c'lling me?"

"What do you mean? You called me."

Stiles heard Derek's giggles and realised what was happening.

"Derek? Are you drunk?"

Another series of giggles followed with a, "Hehe, don't tell an'one!"

Stiles felt himself smile fondly at Derek's struggle to form words.

"I thought you were gonna focus on studying instead of getting drunk and into, uh, relationships."

"I know I just miss the family. I miss you."

Stiles swallowed a lump in his throat, "Yeah. Yeah buddy, we miss you too."

After another series of giggles, a cough attack and awkward silence down the other end of the phone, Derek spoke up in a slurr.

"I still don't under'tand why you c'lled me. But it's g'd you did bec'se I have a secr't!"

Stiles chuckled. Sometimes it's like _Derek's _the younger one.__

__"And what's this secret, Der?"_ _

__"I'm feeling not, nost, nostal, notsil-"_ _

__"Nostalgic?"_ _

__"Yeah! That's it! Oh! I n'd to go!"_ _

__"Okay, Derek. Text me when you get back to the dorms so I know you're alright. Okay?"_ _

__"Yes, yes. Bye St'les." He said before hanging up._ _

___"Bye, Derek." He mumbled before diving back into bed and falling asleep with a pleased smile on his face.__ _

____~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _ _ _

____The next morning he woke up as a message flashed onto his screen._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____To: Stiles  
From: Sourwolf_ _ _ _

____7:36AM: _Sorry about last night. Let's just keep it to ourselves. I arrived to the dorms fine, btw. -D__ _ _ _

_____ _ _ _

_____Stiles got up to brush his teeth and get ready for school with a fond smile on his face. How is this his life?_ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that chapter! Please tell me in the comments whether you'd rather see this come together with slow build Sterek, or at a faster pace. I have a general idea of where this fic is heading but if you let me know what you guys would like to see it would definitely clarify some of the finer details. (as I mentioned in the notes at the beginning of the fic.)
> 
> I will try to update asap! 
> 
> Thanks all! :)


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for making you all wait so long! Enjoy the chapter!

(Derek)

Derek woke up the next morning, to the sound of Boyd getting up for his run, exhausted with a headache and such bad morning breath it's as if someone peed in his mouth. He groans as he rolls over a vaguely remembers an embarrassing drunk call to Stiles. Stiles whom he's been trying to forget or at least forget _in that way _for the past month and or so he's been here. From what he can remember, it couldn't have been that bad. He decides to send a text to Stiles to make sure he doesn't worry.__

_To: Stiles  
From: Me_

_7:36AM: Sorry about last night. Let's just keep it to ourselves. I arrived to the dorms fine, btw. -D ___

There. Simple and convincing. The last thing he wants is for his parents to find out about him getting drunk. Derek _never _gets drunk. He doesn't party and he doesn't rebel. But can't one make an exception when you are tormented and harassed by your ex-girlfriend. Okay maybe that's painting the picture a little too wide but he can't take it anymore. A man has his limits and he has just about reached breaking point. The midnight calls were manageable. Jennifer and her girlfriends would called him several times in the middle of the night everyday in a row for the five weeks he's been at Stanford. Derek accepted them with an as easy shrug as he does with everything complicated in his life, and moved on. He guessed he deserved it. The way he ended things was pretty dickish, if he was being honest with himself.__

__A week had passed and nothing happened. No calls in the middle of the night and no Jennifer to be seen._ _

__Then just last night he was going to pick up his friend, Tyler-whom he became friends with at Stanford- from the local bar. He decided to enter the bar to bring Tyler out to the car as he couldn't even walk in a straight line without fumbling over his own feet in a fit of laughter. And there she stood, in all the beauty that had originally reeled him in. Still frozen in his shock, he hadn't even noticed her moving until her taunting voice was in his ear and her breath making the hairs on his neck stand alarmingly._ _

__"Hey, pretty boy, aren't you looking just as fine as ever?" She had said._ _

__"Who's this?" She said pointing at Tyler who simply smirked at gaining her attention. "Found yourself a new toy babe?"_ _

__Her devilish smirk rose to her lips as she continued to tease him; "Surely you didn't get over me that fast? I briefly remember you saying something in the bedroom actually. What was it again, baby? Huh? I could've sworn it was something like; oh baby, oh you're so good, you're the best, oh my god, what would I do with out you? Of course that's before you chose your whore of a brother, _Stiles, _" She says his name in venom and Derek sees red, "over me, and you lost me you dick. You fucking jerk you can go suck your brother's dick for all I car-"___ _

____"Don't you _dare _speak of him that way." Derek spat at her in a way he had never spoken in front of her. "That is my fucking family you're shit talking right there. Don't you dare bring Stiles in to this. He's my _brother. _You expect me to drop my whole life at the snap of your fingers, well let me tell that _family comes first. _You couldn't handle that, Jennifer so no, _you _lost _me. _And until you for go this attitude problem you have that's always seeking attention, you can be forever alone, for all I care! I let you yell at me when you were frustrated, I let you insult me and laugh at my face because you thought you were being funny, but I won't let you insult my family, my brother. So don't even think of bringing his name to your mind let alone your tongue."___________ _ _ _

______________Jennifer stared at him in disbelief before stalking away in the other direction._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________"Come on Tyler," he had said, "up for a round of shots?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________And now here he lay in his bed regretting all his life choices. His alarm blazed the piercing silence and pulled him out of his thoughts as he cringed at how loud the world becomes during a hangover. He gets out of bed, chucks on his trackpants and top, and follows Boyd's lead out the door for his morning run._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A month later Derek accidentally blurts it out to Boyd and ends up telling him the whole story.

"She really said that?" Boyd questioned that night after their gym session.

"Yup. She 's a heartless bitch. What did you expect?"

"I'm sorry she said that stuff about Stiles, man. I know how much you care about him."

"Yeah, well he's my brother you know. Or well my step-brother."

"Mhmm" Boyd hummed eyeing him warily.

"What's that look Boyd?"

"What look?"

"The one on your face."

"I was just thinking."

Derek, being the socially constipated person he is, drops it at that and continues to sip the Starbucks coffee they had stopped to buy.

Boyd, however, being the nosy friend he is, doesn't drop it at that.

"Are you going to tell anyone?"

"Well I told you didn't I?" 

Boyd rolls his eyes, " I mean Stiles, or Scott or Isaac, maybe even your parents?"

"Real funny Boyd, make a joke out of my pain."

"No, I'm being serious man, maybe it'll be nice to have someone closer to you to talk to. I'm sure your family is understanding."

"Yes, they're understanding," they had accepted both Derek and Stiles being bi-sexual so fast it almost brought tears to his eyes after all, "but that doesn't mean I'm going to poor out all my emotions on them you know? This is my problem no theirs, I'm not dragging them into this."

"Okay, man, just think about it yeah? You're going to leave for Beacon Hills tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, first thing in the morning, I probably should go pack, you coming?"

"Nah, I'm gonna meet up with Erica first. I'll see you back at the dorms."

"Alright, see you soon." And with that he left the Starbucks and made his way back to campus to pack for Beacon Hills. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Stiles)

"No way. I just got my own room, there is no way I am moving back into Scott's room. Derek's only coming home for five days he can just sleep on the couch or share with Stiles or Scott." Isaac complained for what felt like the hundredth time that day. 

Today Derek was coming back, sure for only five days as Isaac had mentioned, but still, Stiles can't help the thrill of seeing Derek after he's been gone for nine weeks. It's felt like forever since he last saw him.

"No no no no no, Isaac you might have just gotten your own room but you just moved out mine so I've technically got a new room too. If anyone should share, it's Stiles."

They both turn to him expectedly, eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. His brothers, ladies and gentlemen, selfish dicks who care about nothing but them selves.

"Come on boys," John joins them in the living room in his Sheriff uniform, "Please don't argue. Your brother will only be here for five days. Surely one of you can share your room."

"Fine!" Stiles huffs. "I'll do it."

"Thanks, Stiles." His dad sends him an appreciative smile and like that, he's forgotten to be upset. "I'll be home before Derek comes back, so i'll help you set up a mattress in your room after work, bye my boys." He says in farewell before kissing each of their foreheads, tucking his gun safely in his belt, sliding his shoes on and leaving the house.

As promised, his dad comes home seven hours later, gives Talia a greeting kiss, and then helps Stiles blow up the air bed they decided Derek would be sleeping on. Unfortunately, Stiles doesn't have a very big room and the air bed takes up nearly all the space between Stiles bed and the door. Stiles gets a sheet to cover the mattress with, two pillows, a massive duvet and a fluffy giraffe patterned blanket on top of that because it's still freezing out, even though the snow is starting to melt, and Stiles room is almost always cold.

Once all the bedding is sorted he contemplates playing Mario-kart with Scott or helping Talia and Isaac make the Lasagna and Salad they were making for dinner in the kitchen. As expected of course, Mario-kart wins. 

About an hour or so later, the whole family receives a group text from Derek and Stiles grabs his phone to check what it says.

_To: Me, Talia, Scott, Isaac, John  
From: Sourwolf_

_8:06PM: Almost home, about 20 mins away, can't wait to see you all. ___

Stiles, predictably is the only one who doesn't reply and when questioned by Scott, he says there's no point in all texting back when he's driving. Scott, beingthe oblivious brother he is, accepts this immediately. 

Stiles can't help the knot forming in his stomach at seeing Derek so soon. The last time he saw him, was that morning in his bedroom when Stiles was about to intiate a kiss. 

_A kiss. With his step-brother._

 _ _Stiles tries to push down those thoughts and emotions as twenty minutes fly by in a hurry, and not soon after, he hears the sound of a specific Black Camaro door closing as a broad shouldered silhouette made his way closer to the porch. The whole family runs out the door as soon as they hear him and Stiles first thought when he sees his brother is;__

 _ _

_Holy Shit, he's gotten even hotter. How is that even possible?_

 _ _Stiles is so screwed.__

 _ _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Derek) 

When Derek passes the welcome to Beacon Hills Sign, he decides to let his family know he's almost home. 

Beacon Hills. Home. _Stiles._

 _ _The last time he saw Stiles was the morning he was leaving, when he was a total jerk to him infront of Boyd. He then followed him up to his room to apologise and say bye properly when Stiles tried to kiss him. Again. And boy did he want to. He just wanted to throw Stiles back onto his bed, kiss him senseless, and then hold him until he falls asleep. Hidden and protected from the world.__

 _ _

Fuck, abort this train of thought. 

Derek decides on a simple message.

_To: Stiles, Talia, Scott, Isaac, John From: Me_

 _8:06PM: Almost home, about 20 mins away, can't wait to see you all._

 _ _Everyone replies except Stiles, and Derek tries not to think to much into it.__

 _ _

Sure enough, twenty minutes later, he finds himself driving down the road of the preserve and parking in the driveway of the house. Man, he's missed this place.

His whole family seems to jump out of the door all at once and meet him on the porch when they sense him coming and is engulfed in a massive hug.

They then each take turns in embracing him individually. His parents telling him how much they love him and Scott and Isaac telling him they've missed him so much.

While Isaac is hugging him, he catches the first glimpse of Stiles for the first nine weeks, excluding Skype. And fuck, his hairs grown and styled in a just had sex way, and lacrosse has obviously been paying off because what used to be lanky limbs of skin and bone is now toned with a reasonable amount of muscle. And his amber eyes, seem to be poring into his and the moles just scattered perfectly all across his face. Stiles blushes under the scrunity of his stare and Derek wants to know how far down that flush goe-.

Derek needs to stop that because this is his step-brother for fucks sake. 

_His Step-Brother._

 _ _Derek lets go of Isaac before making his way over to Stiles and standing in front of him awkwardly.__

 _ _

"Hey, Stiles." Derek tries, coming out more as a whisper.

Derek tentatively wraps his arms around Stiles, glad to be holding him. Stiles momentarily stills, before pushing his way even closer, wrapping his arms around Derek's neck and waist, and burying his face into Derek's shoulder.

He sags in relief and replicates Stiles by burying his face into Stiles neck and breathing the amazing scent that can only be described as pure Stiles.

Derek finds himself nuzzling into his neck gently as he speaks. "I missed you, Stiles."

He feels Stiles sigh gently against his collarbone, "I missed you, too."

Derek could stay in this moment forever, pretend they were something more than brothers even though that's exactly what they are. Brothers. Just Brothers. And although that makes his throat clench and sting in disappointment, when he's standing here, with Stiles in his arms, he can't help but feel like everything will finally be okay.

__

_

_

__

__

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that chapter! Sorry it took me so long to update, i've haven't been feeling very enthusiastic about the writing, but I'm back and I promised to update as soon as possible so that is what I shall do! :D
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos and let me know what you think of this fic. I love when you guys comment and I can interact with you guys and find out what you would like to see in this story. This is for you guys so if there is anything you would like to include in this story, let me know and I will try to sneak it in. 
> 
> I will continue to try update asap, but for now I have to go write a biology report. :(
> 
> Thanks for the support! :D


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE! I felt guilty for making you all wait for chapter five so I stayed up last night writing this chapter out for you guys. I didn't know if I was even going to post this chapter since I did it so late and I was tired so the writing is probably all over the place, but I thought I'd make it up to you. This chapter is completely in Stiles POV and so the whole Jennifer storyline won't e mentioned in this chapter.
> 
> Please let me know in the comments if you like this chapter or if you're even enjoying this fic at all.
> 
> This fic just seems to be getting longer and longer because we aren't anywhere near the end yet. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

(Stiles)

"Wow, this lasagna is great mom!" Derek said around a mouthful.

"Please, it was all Isaac! He's the Masterchef in the making!"

Isaac blushes at this. As amazing as Isaacs cooing skills are, Stiles doesn't think he will ever manage to open his own restaurant or cafe (which Scott and himself secretly know is Isaacs dream), because he's embarrassed. It's a shame really. But Isaac reckons it'll take away his manly characteristics even though he knows some of the top chefs are male. But Stiles will continue to support him along side the rest of his family because his cooking is truely amazing.

"Isaac, honestly, it's so good."

"Thanks guys." He blushes.

They all finish eating dinner, Talia and John excuse themselves for an early night and Stiles and his brothers decide to play a game of Dance Battle on the Xbox. Scott and Derek are one team and Isaac and Stiles are another and they are totally gonna whip their asses. 

And then Stiles starts thinking about how he would totally not mind whipping Derek's ass and you know what, lets just forget the whole whipping ass scenario. 

They decide to play opposing battles, where one person from one team dances with another. Scott and Isaac go first, leaving Stiles and Derek watching them from behind, sitting on the couch, bodies completely flushed against one another.

Stiles decides to cheer to try take his mind off of it and ends up with a chorus of,

"Yes Isaac, come on move those hips, buddy! Shake that ass! Let's boogie!!!!"

He glances at Derek to see his eyebrows raised almost all the way into his hairline, his mouth curved into a smirk, but fondness shining through the blue and green ocean of swirls that can only be described as the beauty of Derek Hale's eyes. 

Stiles blushes under his scrunity and punches him lightly on the arm in a jokingful manner.

"Shut up, Derek."

"HA! SUCK ON THAT SCOTTY!" Isaac yells when he wins the battle and then jumps at Stiles to celebrate his victory. "Derek, Stiles, you're up! Beat his ass Stiles!"

"Oh I will, don't worry." He says, sending a smirk Derek's way. 

"Oh," Derek replies "Challenge accepted buddy."

The songs starts playing and Stiles and Derek start copying the dancers on screen. Scott and Isaac howl in laughter making them turn around scowling and glaring.

"What's so funny?"

"You- You" Scott tries to speak between the laughter."You look-You look like constipated ducklings." 

Isaac and Scott howl in laughter.

Stiles and Derek try to hold back the smiles at seeing their brothers so happy but can't help but join them in their laughter and they start the music again, thrilled at being able to entertain their brothers and bring them such happiness at dancing like constipated ducklings.

They end in a pose mimicking the dancers on screen, facing each other about ten inches apart, with their arms folded across their chests, sticking one hip out, and breathing heavily as they try to get their breaths back. 

Scott and Isaac continue to double over in barks of laughter while Stiles and Derek stare at each other. Derek eventually smiles at Stiles and winks at him sending sparks all the way down to Stiles' toes. And what the fuck? He only winked for fucks sake. Stiles cracked a small smile, before turning around and pretending he's walking back to the kitchen, before turning back quickly, sprinting towards Derek and jumping on him. As always, Derek catches him in mid-air, lifts him up slightly, throws him down onto the other couch, before quickly crawling on top of Stiles.

"Stiles, come on." He whispers, faces only centimetres away. "I already know all your tricks."

Stiles huffs a puff of laughter and then, feeling bold, reaches up and tangles his fingers in the hair at the back of Derek's head. Derek stills for a moment and Stiles heart races, he just had to ruin everything didn't he, but then Derek leans into the touch, manages a small smile, before tucking his head into the crook of his neck and rubbing his nose against the sweaty skin of Stiles' throat.

Stiles doesn't know how long they stay like that, Derek on top of Stiles, Stiles running his fingers through Derek's hair and Derek's face tucked into his neck. It's only when Derek's breath starts to even out against his neck that he realizes.

_Derek is falling asleep. ___

__Well, he did have to drive a long way back to Beacon Hills, Stiles thought, and decided not to think about it too much._ _

__"Derek," he whispered. "Derek come on, your bed's in my room."_ _

__"Hmm?" Derek questioned sleepily, lifting his head before coming back to himself. "Oh. Sorry Sti. Yeah, let's go."_ _

__Stiles' insides tingle at the nickname and he leads Derek up to his room._ _

__"Sorry, it's just an air mattress and there should be enough blankets, if you want you can take the bed and i'll-"_ _

__"Stiles, it's fine, just go to bed."_ _

__"Yeah, okay."_ _

__They both strip down to their boxers before each sliding on their own pair of long flannel bottoms._ _

__"Goodnight."_ _

__"Night." Derek replies as he turns the lights off and jumps into his bed._ _

__One hour later, Stiles is shivering in his bed and unable to fall asleep. Fuck, why is it so cold? Derek had fallen asleep as soon as he hit the mattress and it was totally and unbelievably unfair. Stiles continues to shake as a particular cold shiver runs up his spine and his teeth begin to shiver. Why did he decide to sleep shirtless? Just because Derek was?_ _

__Stiles jumps as the bed dips down behind him and he turns in time to see Derek sliding under his covers._ _

__"Derek?" He whispers. "What are you doing?"_ _

__"How am I supposed to sleep with your teeth chattering like that? Your cold, and I'm warming you up."_ _

__At that he grabs Stiles freezing arm, flips him around and pulls him against his chest, spooning him._ _

___Derek is spooning him. ____ _

____Derek is still warm from his own covers and he wraps his arms around Stiles' bare torso and places on large palm on Stiles' chest._ _ _ _

____Almost like he was craving his touch, Stiles relaxes immediately, and the warmth of Derek seeps through his bones. Pressed up against Derek like this, Stiles gets to feel just how defined Derek's muscles are and wow if he turned around he could rub himself all over that and-"_ _ _ _

____"Stiles." Derek interrupts his thoughts. "Stop thinking and sleep."_ _ _ _

____Stiles huffs a puff of laughter, Derek really knows him too well. Well, hopefully not overly well because he doesn't need to know what he was just thinking. About those muscles and how-"_ _ _ _

_____"Stiles." ____ _ _ _

______"Sorry." Stiles whispers._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Are you warm now?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"Yeah, but- you know, my bed's more comfortable so you don't have to go back to your mattress. Or you can if yo-"_ _ _ _ _ _

_______"Stiles"_ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Stiles gulps nervously._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Derek pulls him tighter and leans closer to whisper in his ear, "I'm not going anywhere. Goodnight, Stiles."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Stiles sighs before replying, "Goodnight, Der."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The following five days are full of being soaked to the core by rain, endless laughter, family meals, lazer tag, arcade games, movies, dance battles, hugs, heaps of food and good times._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________After waking up that morning after Derek and Stiles' _platonic _cuddling, Stiles was disappointed to find Derek not only missing from Stiles' bed but also from the house, already out on his run. When Derek had came back, they continued on as normal. Stiles didn't bring up the previous night, neither did Derek, and just as they had ignored and never discussed that morning of Derek's departure, they ignored and never discussed that either. Every night since then, Derek stayed on his mattress and Stiles made sure he wore a shirt to bed.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________And now here they were, Talia, John, Scott, Derek, Isaac and Stiles all squeezed together onto the two couches in front of the tv, binge watching Star Wars. When Stiles had first met Scott, Isaac and Derek, none of them had watched Star Wars and Stiles, if he was being honest with himself, was personally insulted. So he had them watch the whole series in one night and they had immediately fallen in love with it. And now they were attempting to do the same thing. It's Derek's last night after all, and Stiles tries not to focus on the clenching in his chest when he thinks about it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Once again, Talia and John go to bed early as they are gonna wake up early to wave Derek off as Boyd is picking him up at 6 the next morning._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

After the third film, Scott and Isaac say goodnight and farewell Derek before creeping up the stairs and into their warm beds. Stiles really wants to lie down as well but he wants to spend time with Derek so, feeling emboldened once again, he flings his feet over the side of the couch and rests his head comfortably in Derek's lap. 

Stiles stares up at Derek who looks down at him with a somewhat surprised expression, which then turns fond and a smile creeps upon Derek's face, which Stiles can't help but answer with a smile of his own. 

Derek reaches down and strokes his bangs- which has grown quite a lot- off of his forehead and then runs his fingers through his hair. Stiles lets his eyes slip shut and lean into his touch. They remain this way during the next film while Stiles feels sleep creeping closer and closer.

He doesn't know how much time has passed, it could be seconds, it could be decades, but at some point, Stiles feels Derek gently lift his head, get up and then slowly bend down to get an arm behind Stiles' neck and under his knees, to carry him bridal style back to his room. Or their room, he supposes you could say, and Stiles definitely likes the sound of that.

Derek gently places Stiles in his bed before turning off the lights and jumping into his own bed. Stiles doesn't know why he's disappointed at this, but his disappointment made sure he's wide awake. It's about ten minutes before Stiles has the courage to say anything.

"Derek?" He asks cautiously.

"Mhm?" Derek hums.

When Stiles doesn't reply Derek asks; "Stiles? What's up, man?"

Just go for it Stiles. He's leaving tomorrow.

"So you're leaving tomorrow."

"I am."

"What time are you leaving?"

"Six. You already know this Stiles why ar-"

"Just, shhh, Derek." Stiles says frustrated. Can you- Will you jus- Come here. Please."

Stiles lifts the corner of his blanket up as an invitation and then squeezes his eyes shut, ready for the rejection.

After a moment of silence and Stiles hasn't been rejected, he opens his eyes slowly to see Derek getting off his mattress and sliding gracefully into Stiles' bed. 

_Holy shit, Derek's in his bed. Again. ___

__Derek lies down on his back and Stiles slowly inches his way closer until his head is pillowed on Derek's chest, Derek's arms are wrapped around them and he shoves his face into his neck. To Stiles, everything is right in the world again._ _

__"You okay, Stiles?" Derek whispers._ _

__Stiles hums as his reply because, yes, here in Derek's arms, he's perfect. And all the denial he keeps building up against all the feelings he undeniably has towards Derek, cannot be used in this moment when frankly, there's nowhere else Stiles would rather be. But of course he can't tell his step-brother that he loves when he holds him, and that his laugh his so beautiful, and his eyes shine like the fucking stars themselves and how much he really means to him. So yeah. Humming it is._ _

__"If I don't wake up to say bye to you tomorrow morning, just- you- you know i'll miss you, right?"_ _

__Stiles feels more than sees Derek's smile._ _

__"Of course, Stiles. I'll miss you, too." Derek leans down and places a kiss on the crown of his head and Stiles can't help the sigh of appreciation that escapes his lips._ _

__Neither of them say anything more than that and Stiles feels himself being pulled into sleep at the comforting rise and fall of Derek's chest._ _

__Stiles doesn't wake up when it's time for Derek to leave which he is half sad for because he would have like to see Derek off, but also half glad for because how do you farewell your step-brother whom you snuggled with, tried to kiss and have a massive crush on? Stiles stirs slightly when Derek gently untangles himself from Stiles' hold and places a soft but firm kiss against Stiles' temple. He hears Derek chuckle when Stiles subconsciously reaches out and hugs the pillow Derek was using and then he feels Derek lean down again and place a lingering kiss on the tip of his upturned nose._ _

__Stiles wants to get up, and say goodbye properly but he sees the darkness creeping closer and falls back into a pleasant slumber, the sound of Derek farewelling his parents a gentle hum in the background._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that chapter was okay? I will update asap. Please comment, suscribe and leave kudos! Thanks so much!


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a fluffy and cute fic and I don't know what happened but this fic is getting really angsty. Hang in there, there _will _be a happy ending.__

(Stiles)

He was _freezing. ___

__His teeth clattering together and lips turning blue, the rain pelting down making it almost impossible to see in front of you but Stiles just kept running._ _

__Coach's booming voice coming up from behind him._ _

__"Bilinski, you're so pathetic, move it, run!"_ _

__Who even forces people to do lacrosse at six in the morning in the drenching rain? Coach Finstock that's who. Scott catches up to me from behind as we complete our suicide run, panting side by side._ _

__"You guys are so pathetic, pathetic I tell you. Go home, all of you!"_ _

__"Oh thank god," Scott complains as we make our way back to the locker room. "Lacrosse sucks!"_ _

__"Oh, quit whining Scotty, you'll survive." I chuckled lightly as I struggled to regain my breath._ _

__They quickly dried themselves down and chucked on some warm, dry clothes before dashing out the front of the school and quickly making it back to Stiles' jeep at the risk of becoming soaked again. They drove in the comfortable silence Stiles never felt the urge to fill when around Scott and made it home relatively quick to each jump into a shower and indulge in the heat and steam._ _

__And Stiles did _not _jerk off to thoughts of Derek pressed right up against him, or of strong muscular arms wrapped around his lithe body. And he did _not _come to the fantasy of Derek pounding him into the mattress. He didn't okay? Okay._____ _

______Stiles jumped out of the shower, got dressed in jeans, his batman top and red plaid before driving back to school for his first class. As he jumped into his car he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket._ _ _ _ _ _

______~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Derek)_ _ _ _ _ _

______The next few days after returning back to Stanford were dull and extremely boring. His dorm lacked the presence of a familiar body at night and the days lacked sarcastic comments and immature jokes. Now he sat at his usual table in Starbucks with Boyd, who, unlike his usual quiet self, was trying to poke around in his business._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Come on, Derek. Just tell me how it went. Were you happy to go back home? What did you do?" And then in a quieter tone, "Did you tell anyone about Jennifer?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"God damnit Boyd, no I didn't tell anyone about Jennifer! You can't seriously think I would?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"I don't now man, you said you would think about it."_ _ _ _ _ _

______"And I did. Dumping this on my family, is the wrong thing to do. They've been through enough okay. If I can't spare them from even the tiniest bit of misery, I will."_ _ _ _ _ _

______The silence that followed was unbearable, which is ironic really, Derek usually prefers the silence over chatter._ _ _ _ _ _

______After what could've been hours or seconds, Boyd speaks up. "You're a good guy, Derek."_ _ _ _ _ _

______He huff before looking down at the drink in his hands. Derek? Derek a good guy? Yeah. Right. Because a good guy would run away from his problems as soon as they come around the corner, a good guy would get into a relationship with someone who threatens his family, a good guy would preen under his step-brothers' touch. He doesn't know where the last part came from, but what's the point in denying it, right? What a good guy that must make him._ _ _ _ _ _

______He pulls his phone out as it vibrates in his pocket, alerting him that the trailer of Superman vs Batman has come out and that immediately makes him smile because he's gonna be 50 dollars richer at the end of this movie. He decides to send a quick text out to Stiles._ _ _ _ _ _

_______To: Stiles  
From: Me_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______8:47AM: I hope you're saving up because you're gonna owe me fifty dollars. Don't think I've forgotten. The trailer just came out. Gonna watch it now. ____ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Only two minutes later he got a reply._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________To: Me  
From: Stiles_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________8:49AM: Oh plz sourwolf, im gonna slay you, get ur piggy bank ready. >:) ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Are you talking to Stiles?" Boyd's voice pulls him out of his thoughts. 

"Uh, yea, how did you know?" 

Boyd just shook his head, dismissing his question, not telling Derek that every time Stiles is mentioned or spoken to, a big goofy smile spreads across his face, almost like he can't help himself.

"Come on." Derek says, "We really should get to class now."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Stiles)

Stiles managed to survive Harris' class by texting Derek, bantering back and forth about the upcoming Superman vs Batman movie that is soon to be released.

He could feel more than see Scott's nervous shaking during last period and Stiles turns to him to see what's wrong.

"Scotty, what's up dude?"

"Nothing, nothing. Why do you ask?"

"It's just you're shaking like you're gonna die of hypothermia. Is it because of the game?"

Scott nods slowly.

"But this isn't even the first game. You were awesome last time."

"No-no that's not it, it's, here i'll show you." Scott pulls out his phone to show Stiles under the desk. 

 

_To: Me  
From: Allison_

_2:37PM: Good luck at the game tonight. I'll be there!! :)_

_"Scotty, that's great, this is your chance. Win the game, she'll be cheering for you and then you can sweep her up and drive her into the sunset."_

_"No need to be so melodramatic, Stiles."_

_'Melodramatic, huh? Studying for the midterms?"_

_"Uh huh." Scott nodded with a smile._

_"Nice job!" He beamed back._

_"Scott! Stiles! Do you boys _want _a detention?"___

___"Sorry miss." They chorused._ _ _

___"Don't worry, dude." Stiles whispers. "You're gonna be great!"_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ __

__"Coach! Coach! Are we still playing?"__

 _ _

"Are we still playing, the gentleman asks." Coach huffs "What's a little rain and wind? We're gonna beat that team." 

At Stiles' confused look, he continues, "Yes Bilinski we are still playing, tell Hale to get his ass on the field and you, get your ass on the bench."

"Yes, Coach."

The score was 7-7 and there were only five minutes left on the clock. Three of their players have been injured and Stiles is the last one on the bench. Stiles visibly winces along with the audience as Liam goes flying down to the ground and a crack is heard as he howls in pain. The paramedics slowly pick him up and put him on the stretcher as Coach calls his name.

"Bilinski! BILINSKI! Get up, it's you or we forfeit the game! Get your ass on the field!"

"Me? Me on the field?"

"Bilinski! GO!"

Stiles ran onto the field, a shocked expression on his face. He's playing at a lacrosse game. With the team. He's playing a lacrosse game with the team! Oh my god he's playing a lacrosse game with the team! Holy Shit!

Stiles could hear his dad, Talia and Isaac cheering from the stands, a chorus of "That's my son!" "Go Stiles!" and "WOHOOO GO STILES!" clear and loud through out the cheering. Scott clasped his shoulder, nodded at him, before getting into position.

The referee blew the whistle and everyone become a white blur as they sped across the muddy field, rain pelting down and the lacrosse ball flying through the air. And Stiles can't even move because, how, exactly, do you play lacrosse?

Scott manages to tackle a member from the opposing team and snatches the ball from his net. He's running and running and running, there's only 30 seconds left on the clock and he's about to score, when he's tackled to the ground. Scott looks around desperately and meets his eyes before yelling, "Stiles!" and tossing the ball into Stiles' net. 

Players are running at him, Jackson and Coach are yelling at him to move, people are cheering from the stands, so he runs. He runs faster than he ever has before. With the adrenaline rush he receives he shoulders past a shielding player, lifts his stick into the air, and with all the strength and force he could gather, throws the ball and watches as it passes the goalie and goes flying into the goal as the timer buzzes game over. Stiles did it. 

Stiles shot the winning goal.

_Holy shit, he shot the winning goal!_

 _ _He sees his team mates running towards him all cheering and jumping into the massive - sweaty - group hug and cheerfully thumping him on the back.__

 _ _

Then, he sees her. Lydia Fucking Goddess Martin, walking towards him with a smirk on her face as she jumps onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'm so proud, Stiles!"

And wait, what? She knows his name?

"You know my name?"

"Hunny, please, of course I do, you're the new lacrosse star."

Now, say this had happened around a year ago, Stiles would be sporting the biggest hard on and would most likely be having a panic attack because holy fucking shit, _Lydia Martin _is hugging him and complimenting him.__

 _ _But now? He doesn't know what happened but he gives her a friendly rub on the back and pulls away. Why does he pull away? What the fuck is wrong with him? This is the girl he's been in love with since the third grade? But now? Now he sees her lacking in certain categories. For example, she's missing those strong hairy muscular arms and the shadowing stubble. And she doesn't have the strong built set of shoulders or the thick fingers of a certain hard-working man. And she's not _him.___

 _ _ _ _Not that he's refering to anyone in general, he just has suddenly been fantasising about those features lately and he has no idea why. Kind of. But no need to cross that bridge right now because holy fucking shit Stiles just shot the winning goal.____

 _ _ _ _

He flashes a smile at Lydia before turning in time to see Isaac running towards him and engulfing him in a huge hug.

"Oh my god dude! That was amazing! What happened to you out there?! You were all like lemme go left, lemme go right, left, right, boom straight into the goal! Man, you were awesome!"

Stiles laughed freely at his step-brothers enthusiasm. "Thanks, Isaac."

Stiles pulled away from Isaac before then being tackled into a group hug consisting of himself, Talia and his Dad.

"We are so proud of you son!"

"I can't believe you, that was amazing! We're so proud! We love you so much!"

"I love you guys too."

That soon turned into a massive family group hug, including Scott and Isaac, which, although Stiles can admit he was enjoying, they were still at school, on the field, and everyone can see them, so let's postpone this till later, shall we?

Soon enough he and Scott got changed into cleaner and warmer clothes, declined invitations to go out with the team, and jumped into the car to go celebrate with his family. Or most of his family since Derek was missing.

Speaking of, Stiles phone vibrates and he pulls out to see a new message from Derek. And if that brings a small private smile to his face, it's dark, nobody can see him so nobody needs to know.

_To: Me_

 _From: Sourwolf_

 _

9:03PM: Congratulations, Stiles. Mom told me about your game. I am proud of you. 

Stiles has been told that at least ten times tonight, and every time he brushed it off like it was nothing. But coming from Derek? It meant more than it should for a compliment from your step-brother. But it seems like Derek's opinion was the only one that mattered. Even Lydia's compliment didn't chalk up to this. But, Stiles has had a great night, he won a lacrosse game, people actually know who he is now, and he has a lot of fucking questions about these maybe not so sudden feelings for Derek, let's not ruin the night by going down the wrong road. Some questions are better off unanswered, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_

__

__

__

__

That night is full of laughter, John allowing Stiles, Scott and Isaac small sips from his beer and lounging around on the couches watching Scott and Stiles play Xbox. Talia's head is in his fathers lap and his fingers in her hair. Isaac and John are enduring a light and friendly conversation. And him and Scott are just finishing off the last game. Talia, John and Isaac decide to leave and head up to bed, but not before congratulating Scott and Stiles first, who yell at them for getting in the way of the TV.

Once they are alone, Scott pauses the game.

"Stiles, I know you've been holding it in but oh my god you can let it out now."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I was pretty awesome, aye?"

"Stiles, you know that's not what I'm talking about."

At Stiles' confused look he explains further, "Lydia. Are we completely forgetting she hugged you. That's right I saw! Oh my god dude, that's so exciting."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool."

"Pretty cool? Stiles, are you feeling okay? Two days ago she didn't even know you existed."

Which- okay fair enough but he didn't have to rub it in. Stiles knows that he should be more excited about something like this but he really just doesn't feel that spark around Lydia anymore.

"I don't know what's happening dude. I mean I know I should be ecstatic that she knows who I am and all that, but I think I might not actually be into her anymore."

"Wow, really? What changed?"

"I don't even know, dude."

"I think I do, you're in love with someone else." Scott gave him a knowing smirk and Stiles froze. He can't possibly know about Derek. Not that he's in love with Derek or anything like that.

"It's Heather, isn't it?" Scott says.

Stiles releases the breath he wasn't aware he was still holding and continued to deny Scott suspicions. Thank god his step-brother is so oblivious to everything. After confirming that he was infact _not _in love with Heather, the girl he's seen naked more than fifteen times before the age of two- they bathed together for fucks sake- he, too, says goodnight and goes to bed.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~__

__Stiles wakes up to the sound of the howling wind rattling at his windows and the rain hammering down hard onto their house. Stiles strains his hearing and no, he must be hearing things because he hears suspiciously louder drops hitting floor boards. As in his bedroom floorboards._ _

__He gets up from his bed and a water drop falls onto his face and he - gracefully- trips over his own feet in surprise. And fucking bad timing too because he hears a massive gust of wind and then screams in pain as the roof begins to cave in and a piece of wood implants itself straight into Stiles' stomach and another hitting Stiles' head which he's sure is gonna bruise. If he survives that is. His heart is beating so fast and he can literally smell the blood gushing out of his wound._ _

__The last thing he sees is Talia, John, Scott and Isaac tumbling in after another before racing over to his side. His family's movement is a blur, his heartbeat louder than all the voices in the room and Stiles finds relief in the darkness that creeps closer before _finally _pulling him under.___ _

____~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Derek)_ _ _ _

____Derek is woken up by his phone ringing close to his ear. He must have fallen asleep waiting for Stiles' reply. How pathetic._ _ _ _

____He glances at Boyd and sees he hasn't been woken and then takes a look at his alarm clock which reads 2:37AM._ _ _ _

____He peers down at his phone and sees it's Isaac calling. Something must be wrong if he's calling so late, or early if you're being technical._ _ _ _

____He answers in a rush. "Isaac?! Isaac is everything okay?!"_ _ _ _

____Derek hears heavy breathing down the other side of the line and jumps out of bed in panic._ _ _ _

____"Isaac! What is it? Tell me! Isaac!"_ _ _ _

____"D- Dere- Derek, you have- you have to come home." Isaac manages in between breathes but it's not enough he needs to know now._ _ _ _

____"Isaac!" He yells, startling Boyd from his sleep. He hears Isaac's sobs get heavier and manages to calm himself down._ _ _ _

____"Isaac, you are really freaking me out okay. Take a deep breath and tell me what's wrong." Isaac does as instructed and Derek almost wishes he didn't because what comes next is worse than anything Derek was preparing himself for._ _ _ _

____"Derek, you need to come home, it's Stiles."_ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, please don't hate me. There wasn't as much Sterek in this chapter because this was a stepping stone chapter in my opinion. Don't worry, Stiles will not die. I promised you all a happy ending, it just seems like this fic is gonna be longer than I first anticipated. I hope you're enjoying it at least?
> 
> So sorry for the cliffhanger, but I will, as always, try to update asap.
> 
> Please give me feedback as I love to know if you are enjoying the story or, you know, not.
> 
> Update: sorry for leaving you guys to wait for even longer but since I have exams and I really need to be focusing on them I won't be posting the next chapter until late next week or early the following week. But perhaps I can be persuaded to post more than one chapter?
> 
> See you all next week!
> 
> Thanks all :)


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No you are not hallucinating, it really is another chapter! I'm so sorry for keeping you all waiting for so long. I have been trying to post the chapters at an equal pace but I've had a lot going on lately and have been extrmely busy and I started losing interest and becoming unenthused with this fic, and considered not continuing with it. 
> 
> However, I have decided to give it another chance for you guys, and I hope you are all actually enjoying it.
> 
> Please feel free to leave comments in the comments section below because I love hearing from you and the comments, kudos and support I have recieved from you guys is what pushed me into continuing. 
> 
> As always, this fic does not have a Beta.
> 
> I really hope you enjoy!!! :) I will fix up mistakes later on, when I have more time.

(Derek)

Derek saw red. His heart beat accelerating and the rush of his blood loud in his ears.

"What do you mean 'It's Stiles", Isaac. You're not making any sense, put mum on the phone."

Isaac's frantic breathing can be heard through the speakers and the sound of sirens in the background making Derek panic, as there's a rustle of the phone being passed along.

"Derek, honey?" His mum said in a shaky voice. 

"Mum what's happened? Is Stiles okay? Tell me he's okay!"

There's an uncomfortably long silence before Talia replies.

"We don't know if he's alright. It's really windy over here and the roof collapsed in Stiles' bedroom." She sobs. "We heard a big crash and we all ran into his room and he was just lying there, unconscious, and a - a, a. "

"Shhhh, mum, calm down." He says soothingly, although he's dying on the inside.

There's a shuddering breath and she says, 

"A plank of woods gone through his torso, the ambulance only just arrived so I don't know if it's hit anything. We don't know if he's going to- sur-s." 

His mothers pained sob cuts of her sentence and Derek feels himself break as he collapses to the ground at his mothers words.

"Mum, please tell me this is some sick joke, because I'd rather you all lie to me than what you're saying be the truth."

"I wish it was."

And that's his fucking breaking point, because he collapses into a hysterical wail as Boyd joins his side to try and comfort him.

"No. No No No. NO! No he's going to be okay because that's St-Stiles! He gets hurt all the time, but he's strong he's so fucking str-strong. He's going to be o-okay. He has to be! No!" He weeps.

"You don't need to come home Der-"

"You're joking, right? I'm leaving and hopping on the first plane, just keep me posted okay?" He tells her, gathering himself slowly as he gets up and grabs his bag.

"Okay, Derek, I'll see you soon baby." She whispers before hanging up.

He throws his phone onto the bed, gets up off of the floor, splashes his face with cold water, and then stuffs random things into his bag, not even proccessing what he is packing. He grabs his phone and charger and races out the door after telling Boyd, "Stiles is hurt. I'll call you." 

He jumps into his Camaro and races to the airport, deciding flying would be much faster than driving all the way to Beacon Hills. 

He pays for the first avaliable flight, without even checking the airline first, jumped onto the plane with one thought going through his mind; Stiles. Stiles. _Stiles. ___

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Derek doesn't remember much of the flight. Only that he glared at anyone who dared to come near him. He didn't even bother going back to the house. He's sure will take some time to fix and declare safe to live in.

He stops a taxi and mumbles "Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital" and watches the streets fly past in a haze.

Once they arrive, he gives the driver a 50, and doesn't bother waiting for the chane before dashing inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"John! Mum!" Derek yells when he sees them huddled together on a chair in the waiting room, Scott and Isaac pacing in front of them.

They all jump up and turn their heads towards Derek's direction before running towards him.

"Where is he?"

"He's in surgery."

"In surgery!" He exclaims. "What for?"

"They need to make sure the plank of wood didn't hit any vital organs and stich him up." A familiar voice says behind him. He turns around to see Melissa McCall, one of John's past time friends and a friendly and cheerful companion to their family. Over the years she has became a great friend to his mother as well as John. She really has come in handy through out the years, as a high postioned nurse and has continued to support them through everything they've been through.

"Melissa!" John exclaims in relief. "How's he doing? You've gotta tell us something!"

"I'm sorry John, that's all I can say for now. Surgery is progressing and almost finished. I'll let you know when I know more and when you can see him."

Talia sighs a puff of air of nervousness and anxiety. "Alright." She says, "Thanks for all your help, Mel."

"It's the least I could do." She says before flashing them a small sympathetic smile and walking off.

Derek, feeling dizzy and totally out of place, fell into one of the chairs, sulking, eyebrows scrunched up in worried trance of thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Derek doesn't know how long he sat there, thinking. What if Stiles doesn't survive this? What if the wood impaled vital organs? Or what if it didn't but he never woke up? Who would he argue and banter with? Who would wake him up with tackles and tickles? Who would make his coffee exactly the way he likes it? Who would Derek even be without Stiles in his life? 

A vague skeleton of the person he once was?

A little while after finally persuading himself that Stiles will be okay, because he _has _to be, Melissa rounds the corner and makes her way over to them. By the look on her face, you can tell this has been affecting her, but she paints on a proffesional expression before speaking to them.__

__"Alright, he's out of surgery. He is very lucky the large segment of wood missed all vital organs, and only tore through flesh."_ _

__Even though that sounded bad, they still all let out a breath of relief._ _

__"However, it seems he was hit on the head with a plank or some sort and is still unconscious. The doctor is waiting for you all outside his room and he would like to speak to you before allowing you to see Stiles."_ _

__They all hurry after Melissa and see the doctor standing outside Room 746 with the words Mr Stilinski-Hale. Derek hates the sight of it._ _

__"Mr and Mrs Stilinski-Hale?" The doctor questions._ _

__"Yes, that's us, how is he?"_ _

__"I'd like to let you all know that surgery went well. I believe Melissa has told you the impalment missed all vital organs, and he is very fortunate for this. However, from the bruising and swelling on his head we believe he was also hit on the head. We did a CT Scan and found bleeding in the brain."_ _

__They all inhale and you can see tears running down Talia's face and welling up in the rest of their eyes._ _

__"We were able to release the pressure to stop the bleeding, however he is still unconscious, and we don't know when he will wake up. All we can do right now is keep him on life support and make sure he's comfortable."_ _

__Derek had tried so hard to keep his calm, but this was the final margain, he broke and he attacked._ _

__"Comfortable?! My brother could die in their and you're doing is keeping him comfortbale?! What type of fucking doctor are you?! You better get your-"_ _

__"Derek!" His mother shrieked, John pulling him away from the startled yet calm doctor._ _

__"They are doing everything they can," Talia says with a disappointed shake of her head._ _

__Okay, so maybe it's not the doctors fault and maybe he saved Stiles life but he has all this rage building up inside him and he can't take it anymore. He leans against the wall and shrinks down to the ground._ _

__"I'm going to have to ask you to go in one at a time," the doctor continues, "although he is in a coma, having several people in ther at the same time can be stressful for him and can cause furthur damage. Please call for me if you have any questions or queries."_ _

__He shakes John and Talia's hands before walking off in the opposite direction._ _

__John goes in first, with visibly trembling hands, and his mother slides down the wall to sit next to him._ _

__They sit in a comfortable silence before she decides to speak._ _

__"He's going to be okay, Derek. I know how much you care about him and we all love him so much, so we need to have faith that he will come back to us. You remember how many times he used to fall of his bike or scooter or just trip over his own feet when he was younger?"_ _

__He nodded with a sad, teary chuckle._ _

__"And he would cry for about a minute before jumping back on and continuing as if nothing happened?"_ _

__When he didn't say anything, she continued._ _

__"He's strong Der, one of the strongest people I've met. And me, you, John, Scott and Isaac just need to be there for him. He will get through this. We all will. I know it."_ _

__If there's ever been a time where Derek was thankful for his mother, it's now. He turns his head into her neck and she wraps her arms around him and they both silently sob, holding onto each other._ _

__After who knows who long, Talia gets her self together, and goes over to console a weeping huddle of Scott and Isaac._ _

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _

Derek opted to be the last one to go in and see Stiles. As much as he was dying to see him, make sure he was okay, he was scared to see Stiles that way.

So when it was his turn, it took him five minutes to even get the courage to get up and slowly make his way towards the door.

The smell of disinfectitant and the scent that can only be described as _hospital _hits him hard.__

__He steps inside the room and lets the door shut behind him, before lifting his eyes to land on Stiles uncharacteristically motionless body._ _

__Derek freezes in place when he sees all the tubes connecting Stiles to several surrounding machines, and an oxygen mask covering his mouth and upturned nose._ _

__He slowly makes his way over to the chair by the bed and sits down in it. He finds himself just staring at Stiles and doesn't even notice until he feels the hot tracks of water streaming freely down his face. He reaches out his hand and carefuly and gently clasps Stiles' in his own, lacing their fingers together. No one else is in there with him, he can do what he wants, and say what he wants._ _

__"Stiles." He whispers, not recognising his own voice._ _

__"Oh Stiles, why are you always the one getting hurt? It should be me not you. I should be here to protect you."_ _

__The silence is deafning and Derek seems to find relief in the beeping heart moniter._ _

__"You have to be o-okay Stiles." He sobs, "You need to c-come back to u-us."__

 _ _"We need to find out who wins Superman vs Batman." He chuckles sadly, "Although it's already obvious who's going to win."__

His vision is blurry with tears and he brings Stiles' hand up to his mouth planting a small kiss across his knuckles.

"We need you. I need you. I can't survive without you Stiles, please, _please, _if you can hear me. If anyone can fight this, it's you, I know you can! So fight, Stiles, fight."__

 _ _"Our lives are nothing without you."__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little emotional, but I hope you enjoyed and it made up for the long wait. 
> 
> Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions as I am always open to ideas from you guys and love hearing what you have got to say!
> 
> Also I felt like Melissa is too much of an important character not to put her in somewhere. Her character is quite different from what she usually portrays (not being Scotts mother) but I hope you all enjoy this new side of her as much as I do.
> 
> Thanks all:)


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have no idea how much all your continuous support means to me! I love you all, so have another chapter! Enjoy! 
> 
> p.s. there is quite a bit of time jumping in this chapter as I need to move the story along a bit more, so keep that in mind:)

(Derek)

_One month after Chapter Eight. ___

__The past month has been extremely trying for Derek.__

 _ _One week after Stiles was put into hospital, John forced him to check into the hotel they were temporarily staying at, -due to the unstable state of the Stilinski-Hale household,- to shower, settle in and get a good nights rest.__

 _ _

Of course, early the next morning he was back in his chair next to Stiles' bed. He and that chair were becoming close, spending several nights together. 

However, Derek got time to clear his head and after one long week of no progress from Stiles, he decided transfer his course at Stanford and pushed the dates back, so he'd be able to return to college the following year, when he knew Stiles was okay. Because he _will _be okay. _He has to be. _____

__

The impalement is healing up amazingly so that's progress, right?

The following weeks were full of Derek, Scott and Isaac camping out in Stiles' hospital room and at least one of their parents coming in every two hours from their jobs. Scott and Isaac refused to go to school without Stiles and thought it would only be fair if they all caught up on their missed work together. The three brothers all continuously tried to cheer the others up but there was no doubt they could sense each others misery at Stiles' uncharacteristically still body. Every day the nurse would come in and do a routine of check ups, and every time Derek, Scott and Isaac would get there hopes up, only to be let down when the nurse shakes her head and leaves the room.

Two weeks pass, no progress.

Three weeks pass, no progress.

Four weeks pass, still no progress.

And now, here Derek sits, dwelling on just what he could have done differently. Maybe if he hadn't gone to Stanford he could have saved Stiles. Maybe it would have been him instead. Man, Derek _wishes _it was him instead.__

__Derek wishes he could hear Stiles' laugh again. He wishes he could listen to one of his ridiculous on-going rants about the random couple he saw at Starbucks that morning. He wishes he could see those beautiful honey-doe eyes that shine with his 100 Watt smile. He just wishes he would wake up. To hold him and be held. Derek doesn't know if these wishes will be granted anytime soon, but he can hope, right? Derek's been down this road before and he knows that even when you think there's nothing left in your life, there's always hope._ _

__And so, Derek cries himself to sleep, the same way he has been for the past month; huddled in that chair, scowl playing on his lips, tracks of hot water running down his face, breaking his emotion-less and preserved mask._ _

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _

_(Another month later) ___

__Derek is woken up by a gentle squeeze of his fingers._ _

__He looks around and spots John and his mother huddled together, asleep, on a chair, Talia's head laying on John's chest. Scott and Isaac are also asleep in their own seats, Isaac with his arm laying against Stiles'. He finally- _holy shit wait. _Derek was woken up by a gentle squeeze of his fingers. His fingers who are tangled with _Stiles'. _______

______Derek could've gotten whiplash with the amount speed he turns his head with. But even so he wouldn't have cared. Because there was Stiles, eyes open and staring at Derek with a gentle and small smile on his lips. Derek lets out a puff of laughter and his face almost splits in two at the size of his grin. He feels tears streaming down his face as he quickly lets go of Stiles' hand and quickly gathers him into a tight embrace, sobbing with an overjoyed sense of relief._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Stiles," he whispers through the tears, "You're okay, oh thank god you're okay, oh my god Stiles, never do that again. _Two months Stiles. _You left me for _two months." _Derek sobbed._____ _ _ _ _ _

__________"Shhh, Der, I'm okay." Stiles croaked. And hearing Stiles' voice just got Derek crying even harder because he's been wanting to hear that voice again for what's felt like decades, and getting it all back at once is so amazingly overwhelming._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Once Derek had composed himself enough, he pulled away from Stiles, before grabbing the bottle of water from next to Stiles' bed, and slowly giving him tiny drops of water to help soothe is croaky throat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Stiles hummed in contentment and Derek couldn't resist cradling his face and gently stroking Stiles' face with his thumbs. Stiles smiles slightly, leans into Derek's hand and slowly turns his head to leave a lingering kiss in the center of Derek's palm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Seeing Stiles' like this, ignites a spark in Derek and is taken aback by how much love he realizes he has for his step-brother._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Still cradling his face, he leans forward towards Stiles and places a feather-like kiss against his temple, before leaning his forehead against his own and taking in the beautiful being that is pure Stiles._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________They stay like that for a few moments before Derek remembers that Stiles' has been in a coma for _two months, _and that he must be in so much pain, before reluctantly pulling away and waking their family up.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________At the gasps of his family- "Oh my god, Stiles!" "Stiles you're awake!""Stiles!"- Derek ducks out of the room and races down the hall to grab the closest nurse which just happens to be Melissa McCall._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________"He's awake!" He tells her, not even needing to elaborate about just _who _he's talking about.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Her grin quickly matches Derek's and they quickly walk back to Stiles' room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Stiles) _(A couple of weeks later.) ___

__"I CAN SIT ON THE TOILET MYSELF, DEREK!" Stiles yells._ _

__Ever since he was dismissed from the hospital a couple weeks ago and checked in to the hotel they were all staying at, Derek and Scott have been following him around like puppies. Thankfully, his three other family members understand the concept of space, but these two? Nope, they are unsufferable. He tries to get something from the fridge, Scott rushes in to get it for him. He's about to take a sip from his cup of water, Derek rushes in and helps him tilt the cup because "too much physical exertion strains your injuries Stiles."_ _

__Don't get him wrong he is so grateful to have such supporting and helpful siblings, but it can get frustrating. Being in a wheel chair does not make him invalid._ _

__So yes he is grateful when Derek wheels him into the bathroom. He is grateful even, when Derek helps him out of his chair, but, really? He can walk a couple of inches to the toilet seat and sit down..._ _

__Derek immediately looks away, whispers, "Sorry." and shuts the door behind him. Stiles knows he hasn't gone far though. He'd bet he's sitting right outside the door._ _

__Stiles finishes his business, slowly gets up and washes his hands without wincing at the pain too much, and then sits back down in the wheelchair with a sigh of relief. He opens the door without too much trouble and finds that Derek is, as a matter of fact, sitting outside the door. Derek lifts his head and when Stiles sees the tears in his eyes he immediately regrets yelling. He sighs, and signals for Derek to help him back to his room with a quick movement of his head._ _

__Once Derek has lifted Stiles out of his wheelchair carefully and placed him in bed, passed him a video game controller to play with Scott and Isaac who are already comfortable in their bed on the opposite side of the room, he makes his way towards the door._ _

__Stiles decides he can't leave Derek sad like this, and grabs his wrist before he can go any further. Stiles tugs him down and whispers in his ear,_ _

__"Get our phones, please, Derek, and the cream if you don't mind?"_ _

__Derek pulls away and not meeting Stiles eyes, nods. Stiles hates this. Ever since leaving the hospital Derek has been extremely cautious and easily triggered by little things. Stiles new this and he still made him upset. He's such an idiot. Derek is one of the most imp- no. Derek _is _the most important person in his life. He doesn't want him recoiling into his shell.___ _

____Stiles is pulled out of his thoughts when Derek returns with each of their phones, the anti-inflammation and bacterial cream, and a very confused face._ _ _ _

____Derek tucks his own phone into his pocket before putting Stiles' on the bedside table._ _ _ _

____Stiles hesitantly lifts his shirt before turning to Derek with a hesitant expression._ _ _ _

____"Can you do it for me please?"_ _ _ _

____Derek stares at him for a bit before sternly nodding his head, opening the cream and dipping his fingers in._ _ _ _

____"Are you sure?" Derek asks him._ _ _ _

____Stiles just gives him a small smile in reply._ _ _ _

____As Derek's surprisingly soft fingers rub cream into his skin, his mind goes to dirty and forbidden places. He thinks about what else those fingers could rub, other places they could be put to use. He thinks about Derek's lips and how they would feel against his own. He thinks about his dick how it feel buried deep under his balls._ _ _ _

____Stiles knows it's no way near appropriate and he has no idea what his parents let alone Derek would think if they knew his dirty thoughts. But they're just thoughts. Nothings ever gonna happen because Derek doesn't think of him that way. Why would he? He's hot, single and could have just about anyone he wants. He would never want anyone like Stiles, let alone his step-brother. His _step-brother. _____ _ _

______Stiles is only pulled out of his trance by Derek's fingers leaving his stomach and gently pulling his shirt back down._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Stiles," Isaac calls, "you wanna verse me now?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"In a minute, buddy, you verse Scott for a bit okay?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"HA HA HA I'm gonna smash you Isaac." Scott cackles evilly and Stiles can't help but smile at his brothers that he loves so dearly._ _ _ _ _ _

______Stiles looks back to Dere- where did Derek go? Stiles frowns as Talia pokes her head in._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Everything okay, baby?" She asks him._ _ _ _ _ _

______Stiles gives her two thumbs up and she smiles before quietly closing the door._ _ _ _ _ _

______Stiles pulls out his phone and texts Derek._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

_______To: Sourwolf  
From: Me_ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______6:56PM: Where did you go? ____ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________While Stiles is waiting for a reply his dad knocks on the door and walks in._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Hey boys!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Hey" They all reply in unison._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Stiles dad walks over to Stiles and kisses him on the forehead._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"I'm really sorry to be leaving you here, but I've taken too much time off lately and-"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"No, dad, it's okay really. I'm fine."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________They smile at each other and John pokes his head in the door just before leaving and says, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Before squinting at their giggles and leaving the hotel room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Stiles looks back at his phone to see it blinking with a new message._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________To: Me  
From: Sourwolf_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________7:01PM: I didn't think you wanted me there. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Stiles frowned at his phone before texting back;_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________To: Sourwolf  
From: Me_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________7:02PM: Get back in here, you doofus. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________A couple of minutes later Derek slowly creeps back into the room and stands awkwardly over Stiles. Stiles, not bearing his self pity anymore, pulls Derek down onto the bed beside him and pulls out his phone, not wanting to speak while Scott and Isaac are so indulged with the game._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________To: Sourwolf  
From: Me_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________7:14PM: I'm sorry, Derek, I've just been extremely overwhelmed with this whole thing. I'm not ungrateful. Believe me, I'm so lucky to have you. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________To: Me  
From: Sourwolf_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________7:15PM: It's okay, I was pushing, I get it. I know your not ungrateful, but I have been unreasonable, I'll try back off a bit. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________To: Sourwolf  
From: Me_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________7:16PM: Thanks man. You're the best ;) ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Stiles feels his sigh more than hears it. He slips his hand under the cover and searches for Derek's, lacing their fingers together and smiling when Derek hesitantly returns his squeeze. He decides to send another message._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________To: Sourwolf  
From: Me_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________7:20PM: Love you, Der. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Although Stiles will never have Derek the way he wants him, never be allowed to love him the way he wants to love him, he's still his brother and there are more ways to love than one._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________Stiles hears Derek's deep inhalation of breath and wonders if he stepped over some invisible line. Stiles gets more and more worried as the time passes by, does Derek not even love him as a brother? But slowly, form the corners of his eyes, he sees Derek typing him a response and Stiles phone vibrates where it's laying in between them. He picks it up with the hand that isn't holding Derek's and reads,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________To: Me  
From: Sourwolf_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________7:26PM: Love you too, Sti. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________And if they fall asleep, completely forgoing video games, with their fingers laced together, nobody needs to know._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope none of you got confused with time jumps or anything, and I really hope you enjoyed that chapter! If you did, let me know!
> 
> Look out for the next chapter, coming soon. 
> 
> Thanks all :)


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for taking so long to update this! I've finally managed to sort out the concept and I have figured out exactly what I want to happen in each chapter! Thanks for sticking around!
> 
> Thank you for all your lovely comments, kudos and the many subscriptions! It means so much to me! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! 
> 
> Please note, the rating has been changed....

(Stiles) _Three months later.. ___

__Stiles jumped a little in his seat as the plane began to move to take it's position on the runway. Derek looked at him with a smirk on his face, raising an eyebrow in a questioning manner._ _

__Stiles shook his head and turned back to look out the window._ _

__It's been almost six months since Stiles go injured, and is now basically completely healed up except for scaring on his torso. His father and Talia decided living in a hotel is too costly for them while waiting for the house's construction to complete. The plumber also saw some malfunctions in the drainage system and after heaps of research and hesitation, they all decided it would be best to tear the house down and start from scratch. John and Derek just finished drawing up the plans of the new house and Stiles knows it's gonna be amazing! Derek loved the architectural side of the planning and is thinking of picking up a course at uni when he returns next semester._ _

__So now here they are on there way to Australia, to live with the Hales over there for a bit. Stiles and John have never met them, (Talia, Derek and Isaac obviously have, but they haven't seen their new house.) and Stiles is a little anxious if he's being honest. If Mary, Tom, Peter, Rebecca, and the cousins, Laura, Cora and Noah are anything like the three Hales he knows, there is going to be a lot of good looking intimidation going on in that house hold. From what Stiles has heard, the live in a mansion right by the beach. It's an exciting kind of anxiousness._ _

__Stiles and Scott wanted to sit together, but they both wanted to get a window seat more, so Isaac and Scott are sitting together, with Derek and Stiles behind them and John and Talia in front of them._ _

__Stiles is pulled out of his thoughts when the plane speeds down the runway, ready for takeoff. Stiles shrinks into his seat, and holds onto the armrests for dear life. It's not that he's afraid, he just hasn't been on a plane for a long time and he's watched way to many plane crashes._ _

__He only is able to move his eyes from where they are glued to Scott's seat infront of him, when Derek slips his hand into his own. Stiles instantly gets a rush off heat and almost curses for how much he hates the fact that this happens at the slightest touch form Derek. It's not even surprising really, they've been getting pretty close lately, some people might think it's too close for step-brothers._ _

__Stiles turns his head to look at Derek, but finds him not looking at Stiles at all, but avoiding his eyes and sporting a blush of his own. Stiles thinks he looks beautiful when he blushes and almost curses again for thinking such a thing about his step-brother._ _

__That's when Stiles realises that they are already in the air and oh, it's not so bad after all._ _

__Instead of pulling his hand away, Stiles twists his palm in Derek's, lacing their fingers together. Eventually they fall asleep with Stiles' head on Derek's shoulder and Derek resting his head on Stiles'._ _

__When they arrive in Australia, they are woken up by a smirking John and Talia and Scott and Isaac with confused expressions on their faces._ _

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _

__Stiles dumps his two suitcases by his bed and takes a look around the glorious room. There are four king single beds across from a floor to ceiling glass panel which leads onto the spacious balcony with the most amazing view ever. The balcony even has stairs leading straight down to the golden beach. There room is also and ensuite and has the most amazing shower with 7 shower heads and marble walls._ _

__Since arriving, Stiles has learnt several things._ _

__1) Australia is hotter than Beacon Hills, like way hotter._ _

__2) The Hales must be billionares if their house is anything to judge by._ _

__3) Mary and Tom Hale (Talia's Parents) are lovely. Laura, Cora and Noah (Peter's Children) are meddlers and are not to be messed with._ _

__4) Peter (Talia's brother) is a fucking creep._ _

__Scott and Isaac walk in and their jaws drop just as Stiles' did when he walked in._ _

__"I know, right! Dudes, this place is amazing!"_ _

__"Oh, my god!!!" Isaac yells as he sees the playstation 4 connected to the massive flat screen - which, how did Stiles miss that?_ _

__"Bro!" Scott says, "this is gonna be sick!"_ _

__Scott throws his bag onto the bed to the left of Stiles._ _

__They are still testing out all the equipment in the room when Derek walks in, shakes his head with a smile at his brothers._ _

__Once Derek puts his bags down next to the bed to the right of Stiles, Stiles jumps onto Derek's back. Derek catches him with a fond chuckle and then dumps him on the bed. Isaac, does the same and then Stiles and Isaac find themselves lying on Derek's bed, being tackled - and tickled -to breathless laughter by Scott and Derek._ _

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Derek) _ _

__After a magnificent dinner, where the rest of his Hale family got to know the Stilinski's, Derek is lying in his bed,(he doesn't know what woke him up) thinking about just how well Stiles and John fit into this family._ _

__It's a terrifying thought, really._ _

__Derek is pretty sure he's the only one awake, which is why he freaks out when his phone starts ringing. The screen reads Boyd, and Derek mentally curses himself for forgetting to let him know about what's going on._ _

__Derek goes out onto the balcony so he doesn't wake any one up._ _

__"Hello?"_ _

__"Hey, Derek, remember me?"_ _

__"Boyd, I'm so so sorry I've been so caught up with everything-"_ _

__"It's okay, Derek, i'm just messing with you, I know what it's like. How's everything?"_ _

__"Well, Stiles is much much better, thank god, and we mightsortabeinAustalia."_ _

__"What?"_ _

__"We might sorta be in Australia.."_ _

__"Australia! What the fuck are you doing there?"_ _

__"Well, you know what happened to the house, and staying in a hotel is just to expensive so we are staying with some relatives until the house is finished."_ _

__"Oh my god. Are you still going to come to Stanford.. or?"_ _

__"Of course, I am! Next semester. I didn't want to leave Stiles while he was injured and I thought it would help John and my mom to be around."_ _

__"Mhmm. Well that's all great to know but it's not why I called at this time. I have some good news for you man?"_ _

__"Really?"_ _

__"Yup! I was walking back to our dorm and guess who I saw being dragged into a police car..?"_ _

__Derek gasps, "No way!"_ _

__"That's right, Jennifer! Felony assault against someone who refused to sleep with her."_ _

__"I can't believe that women. She's nuts."_ _

__"Yeah, well I thought I'd deliver the news. I know it's late so you get back to sleep. Nice talking to you, man."_ _

__"You too, man, thanks." Derek says before ending the call._ _

__Derek stares out into the ocean, feeling a sort of calm rush over him. Sure he has thought about Jennifer in a while but he doesn't have to worry about that anymore._ _

__He turns around when he hears the door open behind him and sees Stiles behind him rubbing his eyes as he just woke up._ _

__"You alright?" Derek asks him._ _

__Stiles hums and leans on the railing next to Derek._ _

__"Why are you up so early?" Stiles asks him with a croaky voice, and wow that shouldn't be as hot as that is and- why is he like this?_ _

__"Boyd called me."_ _

__"Everything okay?"_ _

__Derek looks at Stiles open face and caring expression and decides to tell him._ _

__"He called to tell me- You know- Do you remember Jennifer?" Derek decides to start with._ _

__Stiles hums again, an almost dark expression taking over his face._ _

__Derek contemplates telling him the full story or just what Boyd told him. He chooses the latter._ _

__"She got arrested with felony assault against someone who refused to sleep with her."_ _

__Stiles' eyes bulge out of his face, his jaw dropping with a gasp, before regaining control of his expression._ _

__"Are-Are you okay?"_ _

__"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Derek asks confused._ _

__"Well, you know.. she was your girlfriend and everything.. and I don't know."_ _

__"I didn't date her, I dated the fake mask she put on and I regret every moment of it."_ _

__Stiles nods his head in understanding and they turn back t stare out at the ocean that is tinted gold by the rising sun._ _

__After a while, Stiles speaks up._ _

__"My mother always used to say sunrise was the most beautiful time of the day. Man," he chuckles wetly, "she would've killed to see this."_ _

__Derek turns around to see Stiles hide his face as a tear runs down it._ _

__He grabs Stiles face with his hands and gently strokes the tears away from his face._ _

__"Really?" He asks him softly._ _

__Stiles nods his head and then looks down to the ground._ _

__Derek lifts his head and whispers,_ _

__"Come on." Before - reluctantly- letting go of his face, to link their fingers together and pull him down the stairs to the beach._ _

__"Derek!" Stiles yelps, "What are you doing?"_ _

__"Let's go down to the beach!" He whispers loudly ._ _

__"Now? It's like 6am! You're insane!"_ _

__"Don't be such a chicken!" Derek tells them once they've reached the beach. Derek tries to ignore the fact that they're still holding hands._ _

__"Whatever you say, Sourwolf."_ _

__"How did you even come up with Sourwolf?"_ _

__"Well, wolf because your built like, wow man , who even has that much muscle?" Derek blushes when Stiles pokes him in the stomach laughing._ _

__"And sour because, come on, you've got this like resting bitch face thing going on-"_ _

__"Oh really?" Derek looks at Stiles with a gleam in his eyes. It must give Stiles a warning because his smile drops and starts chanting, no, no, no before running off towards the water with Derek chasing closely behind._ _

__Derek splashes Stiles with water and he squeals. Stiles smirks at him before tackling him into the water. The both go under and come back freezing and soaked and with twin smiles on their faces before running deeper out into the icy cold water._ _

__They get up to their hips before they stop and stare at the beautiful sight in front of them. He turns to look at Stiles and marvels at the way the sun reflects of his eyes making them shine a golden colour. the way the moles on his smooth pale skin are even more noticeable like this._ _

__"Isn't it beautiful."_ _

__"Yeah." He whispers, but he's not talking about the horizon._ _

__Stiles looks at him and he thinks it's probably a good time to go back inside before one of them get hypothermia._ _

__He opens his mouth to tell Stiles so but is suprised into silence when he sees Stiles rushing towards him, hesitating for a second, and then slamming his lips in to Derek's._ _

__Derek pulls away from Stiles for a second and sees a hurt expression on his face and thinks, _fuck it.__ _

____He grabs Stiles from his shirt and pulls him towards his chest so they are flush against each other before attacking his mouth with his own. Stiles lets out a groan at the feel of Derek's lips on his and that's all Derek needs before he's slipping his tongue into Stiles' mouth and savouring the amazing taste that is Stiles._ _ _ _

____He's not suprised to find he's half hard in his pants and when Stiles slips his thigh in between Derek's, and moans loudly at the hard length now rutting against his thigh._ _ _ _

____"Ngh- _Stiles," _he manages before Stiles covers his lips with his own. Derek can barely muster the thought of how wrong this is but how right it feels.___ _ _ _

______He feels Stiles hands crawling closer to his pants and when he looks up at Derek asking for permission, Derek knows he shouldn't nod his head, but he does._ _ _ _ _ _

______When Stiles takes Derek into his hand he throws his head back and groans in his throat._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Fuck- shit _Stiles" _____ _ _ _ _

________Stiles eventually pulls out his own erection and jerks each one of them off in separate hands and it takes longer than it should for Derek to take Stiles in his palm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________They jerk each other off in the middle of the ocean, the only sounds the birds in the trees and the two of them moaning each others name._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Fuck, Der- I'm-I'm close," Stiles pants and Derek can only hum in agreement as he speeds his hand up and thumbs Stiles slit, emitting a moan out of him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________It's only about four seconds later when Stiles comes in between them, Derek following almost immediately. Derek catches Stiles lips, sucking and bitting on his bottom lip while drawing the orgasm out of the both of them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________They lean on each other for a couple of seconds, their kiss swollen lips the only evidence of anything that occurred between them, before they both realize what just happened and jump apart._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Uh-" Stiles begins._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Fuck." Derek whispers before racing out of the water, Stiles close behind._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The walk back up the room is awkward and couldn't take longer if he tried. Once they reach the balcony, Derek stops Stiles before he goes inside._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Stiles, I- I don't, - I don't know how that happened, but it can't happen again, okay? It can't. And you have to keep this between us. You understand?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Stiles nods, and is about to pull the door open before he turns around._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"I just- Just one more time, before we, you know, have to stop- "_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Stiles stops talking when Derek walks towards him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He places one hand on the side of Stiles' jaw, the other on his hip, and leans his forehead against Stiles'._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Okay." He whispers._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________And then Stiles is leaning forward and capturing Derek's lips with his own for what they both know will be the _final _time.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Stiles' tongue briefly touches his own and then Stiles has disappeared inside, and started the water of the shower, leaving Derek behind on the balcony to contemplate what his life has become to._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The next morning brings a completely different atmosphere than the happy cheerful one of last night, but not everybody notices, thank god. He sees Isaac asking Stiles what's wrong and only receiving a small smile and a shake of the head, and his mother even pulls him away from the group after breakfast to ask if he and Stiles got into a fight or something like that._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________And all Derek can do while he sits at the opposite side of the table, as far away from Stiles as he can, as he's missing the laughter and ridiculous jokes Stiles makes, as he's getting glares from Isaac and Scott who obviously think he did something wrong, is think about how he absolutely screwed up one of the best things in his life._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! Sorry for leaving you on an unhappy ending. I'm not sure whenI'm gonna post next because I post as soon as I write the chapter, but I know it's going to be soon, so stay tuned!
> 
> Thanks again for all your lovely comments, kudos and the many subscriptions!
> 
> Let me know if you liked this chapter! :)


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! 
> 
> This chapter is for [sd2009](http://archiveofourown.org/users/sd2009) whose birthday is today (23 Feb) and has continued to support me throughout this story! It's been so great to get to know you and I hope you have an amazing day! You deserve it!! Enjoy your day, my friend!! This ones for you!! :) 
> 
> Also, I made a mistake at the beginning of this fic (chapter 2- but it's fixed now) with the ages. Here are the actual ages of our beloved boys: Derek: 20 - Scott and Stiles: 17 - Isaac: 15 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter!! :) (Look out for time jumps. I said I would try not to do anymore time jumps but it's really hard because I wanna move this story along much faster than it has been moving. I guess my bad updating schools are to blame for that but I will - hopefully be posting more frequently from now on.)
> 
> P.S. Wish [sd2009](http://archiveofourown.org/users/sd2009) a happy birthday in the comments!!!

(Derek)

You know that feeling you get when you've done something terrible, something you regret? When your stomach clenches and sends shivers up your spine every time you think about it? When there's a shadow always following you or a weight on your body that just wont go away? When you get that niggling feeling, like a worm crawling just underneath your ribcage?

And then you look around at everyone surrounding you. Laughing. Smiling. Happy. And you know, you know that if word slips out about what you've done, you'd be the cause of the end of their laughter and happiness.

And you know, that instead of looking at you, with big grins on their faces, you'll only see the disappointment, embarrassment and shame, shining through their eyes. 

And in your head you have an ongoing mantra of: _What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?_

__And you would pay millions of dollars, maybe not even to change what happened, but to change the aftermath of your actions. You tell your self it was inevitable, but was it? Was it really?_ _

__Welcome, to Derek Hale's life._ _

__A bit dramatic? Perhaps. But to Derek, this could only end in disaster._ _

__It was the evening after that really awkward breakfast, and Derek was at a cross road. The guilt was eating him up and he hated it._ _

__Sure he didn’t murder anyone, but what he did is pretty fucking terrible. He kissed his step-brother. His step-fathers only son and his mother’s husband. But Derek being the selfish idiot he is, not only kissed him but exchanged hand jobs. Man he’s such a skeeze._ _

__He didn’t think Stiles was taking it well either. Derek saw his mother pulling Stiles into the room to ask him what’s going on and he’s seen the questioning looks John has been sending him._ _

__He’s seen the way Stiles flinches everytime they accidentally brush against one another or even get too close._ _

__He’s seen the way it’s affecting his family, even though they have no idea what’s going on, because they’ve noticed. They’ve noticed that Derek and Stiles came to Australia even closer than even Stiles and Scott. And come on, that’s really close. And now, they can’t even stand to be in the same room with each other._ _

__He knows his family thinks they got into a massive argument and hate each other now, but the real reason they can’t stand to be close to one another is so, so, so much worse._ _

__Because if Derek gets too close, he feels like he can smell the longing. Whether it’s coming off himself or Stiles.. who really knows?_ _

__Because they both want something that is so completely forbidden, and they will never get it. They will never get each other. Because they’re _step-brothers. _And that’s the cold hard truth.___ _

____And now that Derek’s had a taste of Stiles, it’s made him want him even more. If he had any chance of getting over it before, it’s totally gone now._ _ _ _

____And it’s all his fault._ _ _ _

____~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Stiles)_ _ _ _

____Stiles has no idea how to feel._ _ _ _

____Is he glad he got a chance to experience a tiny glimpse of what it would be like? Uhh.. yeah!_ _ _ _

____But was it really worth it? It’s torn him and Derek apart._ _ _ _

____Stiles stares at the roof from his bed and listens to the shallow breathing of his sleeping brothers. Well, Scott and Isaac are asleep, he knows Derek is wide awake._ _ _ _

____They haven’t spoken to each other since that night, the only conversation between them: “Can you pass me the salt please?” With a grunt from Derek in reply._ _ _ _

____He’s getting sick of this and it’s only been a day. All the Hales have noticed, Talia has asked him to please just sort out whatever fight he and Derek got into and his father’s questioning eyes are constantly boring into his own._ _ _ _

____Let alone mention Peters creepy smirk that’s always on his face when they are around. It’s like he knows exactly what went on between them._ _ _ _

____He decides to be the more “mature” one and speak up._ _ _ _

____“Derek?”_ _ _ _

____In the dark he could make out Derek’s head moving to look towards his direction. He hears Derek inhale as if he never expected him to speak to him again._ _ _ _

____“Are you awake?” He tries again._ _ _ _

____“Yeah.” Derek releases mindlessly._ _ _ _

____“I know it’s only been a day and we need to get over this, but we can’t go on this way, or they whole family is going to break us and find out what happened.”  
“I know” Derek sighed. Stiles though that was all he was gonna get out of him until he continued, “I’m- I’m still kind of trying to process it, you know?”_ _ _ _

____“What is there to process?”_ _ _ _

____“Come on Stiles, you’re my step-brother.”_ _ _ _

____Stiles let out a shaky breath._ _ _ _

____“I know.”_ _ _ _

____“We just have to keep it to ourselves, okay? It was a mistake and it’s my fault, so I’m sorry.”_ _ _ _

____Which- ouch. Like sure that wasn’t meant to happen but a mistake? It’s not like they’re related…. However, Stiles could see where Derek was coming from._ _ _ _

____Before, Stiles could speak, Derek continued,_ _ _ _

____“We just need to forget Stiles, so things can go back to the way they were.”_ _ _ _

____“I need time. I can’t just forget over night.”_ _ _ _

____“I know, me either.”_ _ _ _

____After a long stretch of silence Stiles says,_ _ _ _

____“Goodnight, Derek.”_ _ _ _

____“Goodnight.” Derek whispers back._ _ _ _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(2 months later) (Derek)

His two months of freedom were up, Stiles had healed up quite a while ago and he has to return to Stanford to continue his courses and Scott, Stiles and Isaac are starting up at school again. Derek’s not too upset about leaving because he’s excited to move into the new apartment the Hales insist they buy for him.

His plane is leaving at 8am so here he is, standing on the porch of the massive Hale- well Palace basically, saying goodbye to everyone. You would think he would know how to do these things by now but Derek knows he is the most awkward person when it comes to goodbyes. Derek doesn’t know why it’s such a big deal but he has to hug every single person every time he leaves and comes back to college.

He hugs his mother who tells him to keep his head down and work hard to catch up.

He hugs John who tells him to be safe and say hi to Boyd.

He hugs his grandmother and grandfather. He hugs Peter and his wife and Laura and Cora. 

He hugs Isaac and Scott and by the time there’s only one person standing there, he’s all out of hugs.

He looks at Stiles standing there avoiding his eyes and asks himself how to go about this.

They’ve gotten a little better, Derek thinks, they say “good morning” and “bye” and “do you want anything from the supermarket?” They do it to fool their family and that’s about it.

His family knows that something still isn’t right, but they have tried to put on a face they really have.

He feels his family watching them expectantly. 

Stiles, being a much better person than himself, walks forward and wraps his arms around Derek. Derek all but falls into those arms he’s dreamed of waking up in, and greedily gulps down the pure scent that is Stiles. He feels Stiles exhale shakily against his neck and Derek realizes that this is just pushing at the border of a friendly, brotherly hug. 

He pulls away and jumps into the car with John, before making their way to the airport. Derek’s eyes not leaving Stiles’ until he physically couldn’t see them anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Stiles) (3 months later)

Stiles walked into the Hale house and let out a sigh. This day has been the worst. Literally the Australian version of Greenberg remembered it was his birthday but his own friends and family didn’t. He feels devastated. It’s his 18th birthday. He would’ve wanted to go out to a club or drink with some friends or even just celebrate at home with his family. 

But they didn’t remember.

He walks forward to where he knows the light switch is and-

“SURPRISE!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!”

Stiles literally jumps back and stumbles over his own feet, landing on his ass.

They all laugh and Stiles takes a look at the scene around him, a grin crawling up onto his face. 

There were balloons literally everywhere, a massive cake, drinks all his friends from school and his family- minus Peters kids who are too young.

“I though you all forgot!” is the first thing that comes out of his mouth and everyone laughs. 

“That’s the point, dummy.” Scott chuckles before helping him up.

Stiles laughs and gets up to open presents, get a drink, pizza and it’s quite possibly one of the best nights of his life.

The next morning Stiles wakes up with the greatest hangover in the history of hangovers, and he’s basically forgotten most of the night. He didn’t forget the fact that Derek didn’t think he was important enough to even send a Happy Birthday message to, though.

Stiles decides to ignore it, he’s better off without the mixed emotions, thank you very much.

He goes down to see Isaac making pancakes and omelettes.

"Good morning, birthday boy," he says cheerfully, "I wasn't allowed to do this yesterday so I'm making your birthday breakfast today!"

“Ugh, you’re the best Isaac!” Stiles says, reaching over to grab the mug of coffee set out for him.

Soon, his dad and Talia join them at the table.

“Now, Stiles, did you have a good time yesterday?”

“The best!” He tells them.

“I’m so glad!” Talia says, “Can you call Scott down please Isaac, we have something to tell Scott and Stiles.”

Stiles looks at them wearily and shares confused looks with Scott as he comes into the room looking like a dead zombie.

“What is so important you have to wake me up?” Scott asks.

“Sit down Scott, John has to go to work and we need to tell you guys this. We have a surprise for you two boys, Isaac you will get the same thing when you are their age.”

“Scott, you want to go to NYU at the beginning of the next semester, right?”

“Yes..”

“Well,” his dad continues for Talia, “We have this for you.” Before passing over an envelope.

“Don’t open it yet, Scott. Stiles, you want to go to Stanford, like Derek still, correct?”

“Uhh..yes?”

“Great, well this is for you.” His dad says passing him an envelope the same as Scott’s.  
“You can open them now boys.” Talia says, chuckling at their confused faces.

Stiles opens his envelope, and sees an undergraduate college tour 2 week pass and return flight tickets to Stanford and back. His jaw falls open.

“Boys, you each have a 2 week undergraduate college tour pass to go check out NYU, Scott and Stanford, Stiles, and make sure it’s the place you want to study at after High School. It’s a big decision boys, and something you need to take seriously.”

“Where will we be staying?” Stiles asks, nearly bouncing off his seat in excitement.

“Scott, you will be staying with Aunt Maria in New York, you met her when you were a new born, I talk about her all the time, she’s my sister.” Talia says, “She lives rather close to campus so it’s quite handy for you to get a feel of the life down there.”

“Stiles,” she continues. “I know you and Derek weren’t on the greatest terms before he left for who knows what reason, he’s happy to let you stay at his place for two weeks. He’ll pick you up and drop you off at the airport. You’ll stay with Derek.”

Stiles excitement literally went down the metaphorical drain. Two weeks with the step-brother he’s been pining for, for who knows how long? Fan-fucking-tastic!

His life is literal torture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look out guys, because *spoiler alert* the rating next chapter is going up up up!!!
> 
> Let me know how you felt about this chapter! Although i've planned this story out, i've done so very loosely so if you want to see something in this story, let me know and i'll be sure to take each and everyone of your ideas into consideration!
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I think I have some explaining to do. I don't know what happened but I was going to sleep last night and then I suddenly got hit with the feeling to write. And not write anything but to continue writing this story. I knew it was complete backlash after telling you all I was discontinuing this fic, but I hadn't felt the motivation to write anything for this story in a long time and I saw that as my chance to, so I did. I know you are all going to hate me for this but I am continuing with this story after all.
> 
> I REPEAT! THIS STORY IS BACK ON THE ROAD!!!
> 
> So, if you still think this fic is worthy, please enjoy the next chapter, and prepare for angst and heaps of fluff in the incoming chapters!
> 
> Love you all, thanks for being patient with me :))))

(Stiles)

“Oooh yesss Derek! Right there baby!” Stiles moaned as Derek starting milking his prostate. Damn. He knew sex would be good but WOW is sex with Derek just out of this world!! 

“Fuck yeah baby you look so hot when you moan my name, keep going baby! Don’t stop!” Stiles felt Derek’s cock pulsing inside him and Stiles continued riding him, chasing after his own orgasm, which followed not long after.

Hot.

Extremely super hot.

Stiles’ vision flooded with lights as he fluttered his drooping eyelids open, rolling over in his bed and grumbling as he stuffs his head under his pillow, groaning for another ten minutes of sleep. It’s not until Stiles’ thigh comes into contact with something wet and sticky does he realise exactly what happened. 

Stiles has a wet dream.

Not just any wet dream.

A wet dream… about Derek.

Stiles bolted up into an upright position, fumbling with the covers to make sure he was covered in case anyone was to burst into his room, while quickly leaning over the side of the bed to grab his messily discarded sweatpants off the floor and make a dash for the bathroom to clean up. 

Stiles couldn’t believe this was happening. This was his step-brother for fucks sake! Why couldn’t his brain catch the memo? Stiles couldn’t help but feel sick over the pang of guilt settling low in his stomach. Not only for the inappropriate dream he had, but for what happened with Derek that early morning on the beach. It’s not like he wanted all these desires to invade his thoughts. But it wasn’t exactly something he could control.

After Stiles had cleaned himself up he rushed into his bedroom to clear the sheets off his bed and throw them in the wash, thanking all the gods that the rest of his family all slept in much later than he did. 

After making sure all evidence of what had happened was gone – although it is perfectly natural and no one would ever know exactly who was the culprit in Stiles’ fantasies, he would rather he wasn’t confronted – something settled in his gut. However, that feeling was momentary as on his way down to the kitchen he stumbled on something heavy almost crashing through the wall. 

He turned his head to see exactly what was the object trying to execute his destruction, when he saw that it was his suit case that he tripped over.

His suitcase for his two week stay with Derek.  
Which is where he was going today.

Stiles let his head fall back onto the wall, groaning loudly.

Could this day get any worse?

Don’t get Stiles wrong, he wanted nothing more than to be with Derek 24/7. To run into his arms and hold him forever. To kiss him senseless. And that was the problem!

It wasn’t that Stiles didn’t want to see Derek, because trust me, he did. He just didn’t know how he was supposed to survive two weeks all up in his step-brother’s business, his hot step-brother’s business, when he wanted nothing more than to push Derek onto his bed and suck his cock down greedily and – fuck abort this train of thought.

He heard rustling followed by footsteps and looked up to see Scott walking towards him. He gave him a small smile.

“Morning Stiles- what are you doing on the floor? C’mon, man. Get up!”

Scott reached down pulling him up off the floor.

“It’s gonna be a long day!”

Stiles hummed in agreement, continuing on his way to the kitchen to fetch out some bacon from the freezer. 

It was gonna be a long day indeed.

~~~~  
(Derek)

Derek? Nervous? If anyone asks, the answer is no. Derek Hale doesn’t get nervous. Derek Hale is an emotional rock. But as Derek combs the gel through his hair, he looks up at the mirror and sees everything except void of emotion. Nervousness, anticipation… Derek was scared! He wasn’t even this nervous for his finals! What was happening?

Why did he even agree to this in the first place? 

Because Stiles is your step-brother, Derek kept reminding himself. Things between Stiles and him have been awkward since that fateful morning on the beach and he longs for the closeness and intimacy that came with their playful relationship before shit hit the fan. That’s why he was doing it. It’s not fair to Stiles, to have to deal with this when Derek should have stopped it before it really began and it’s not fair to the rest of their family, who have no idea what is going on but know that their sons and brothers can’t stand to be in the same room as each other. They probably think they hate each other, where as a matter of fact – for Derek at least- it’s the complete opposite of hate. Not that he would ever admit it out loud. That would make it feel way to real. Derek wasn’t ready to deal with that. Maybe one day he would be able to own up to the guilt that came with his actions, but today was not that day.

Today, however, was the day that Stiles’ plane would be arriving. Today was day one of fourteen days in which Stiles would be invading his little recently obtained apartment and Derek wasn’t sure what the emotion he felt at that idea was. Longing? Dread? A bit of both?

Derek looked at the time a swore, noticing Stiles’ plane would be landing soon and that this time was not the time to analyse his life decisions. 

~~~~  
Derek waited for what felt like an eternity before he saw a familiar red hoodie and Stiles’ lanky and somehow built frame underneath it. Derek felt his heart beat faster and his insides began to turn. 

Stiles gave him a hesitant smile which he gladly returned as he made his way over to him to give him a short and rather awkward hug. Derek hated this awkwardness, why did it have to be like this? Derek wanted nothing more than to hide his face into Stiles’ neck and inhale the pure scent that made him feel like home. Derek instantly felt the guilt at such perverted and creepily inapporiate thoughts. 

“Hey Stiles, looking good!”

“I look exactly the same, Derek.” Stiles said with humour in his tone. 

“No you’ve grown like 5 inches we are basically the same height now!” Derek tried to encourage him. He couldn’t straight out tell him he looked hotter than the men in his playboy magazines, so this would have to do.

“Yeah well, I’m older now, my birthday passed, yknow.” Stiles said quietly, looking up at Derek from underneath his lashes. He instantly felt another pang of guilt. Seems like this would be a common reaction around Stiles. You see, it’s not like Derek had forgotten it was Stiles’ birthday, quite the opposite as a matter of fact. He just never mustered up the courage to say anything because he didn’t know what to say and frankly, he didn’t know how it would be received. He’s such a coward. Stiles is his step-brother and he couldn’t even wish him a happy birthday. What kind of person does that make him? A pathetic one? At least that’s a start. 

“Y-yeah. Yeah it did, aye?” Derek chuckled nervously. He can’t believe how much of a coward he is; he feels so ashamed. 

Derek picked up Stiles’ suitcase and led him to his car, making small talk on the way. 

“So glad to be out of Australia? Breathing the air of the States again?”

“I don’t know, Derek, I was really warming up to those kangaroos!” 

Derek let out a burst of laughter and saw a flash of pride take over Stiles’ face, obviously proud he was able to make Derek laugh and break the obvious tension between them.

“Oh Stiles, you really are a special one.” Derek ruffled Stiles hair fondly, making him squawk and laugh as they both slid into Derek’s car, making their way towards his apartment. 

~~~~  
The rest of the night was rather uneventful. They got a large pepperoni pizza and cinnamon rolls and binge watched marvel movies. 

Derek was now sitting on his bed scrolling through his Facebook feed, listening to the rustle of Stiles spreading out his blanket and pillow on his makeshift bed – aka, the couch. 

About two minutes later, Derek sees Stiles’ head pop inside his door.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna take my bed? I can sleep on the couch Stiles.” He asked for about the millionth time.

“Yes, I’m sure, but thank you. Goodnight.”

“Night.” Was all he could muster before Stiles made his way back to the lounge.

Before he made it too far away, Derek called out;

“Wait, Stiles.”

“Yeah?” He questioned, his head popping back in the doorframe with an interested look on his face. 

Derek slowly got off his bed, Stiles’ eyebrows climbing higher and higher up his forehead the closer he got. 

Derek stopped about a foot in front of Stiles and whispered, “I’m sorry. For not wishing you a happy birthday. I didn’t forget- I could never. I just- I guess I wasn’t sure, about anything. And that’s stupid, so I’m sorry.”

Derek had expected Stiles to either scoff in his face or say “okay” before leaving. 

What he didn’t expect was for Stiles to hesitate before jumping into Derek’s arms and burying his face into his shoulder. Derek stilled for all of one second before wrapping his arms around Stiles just as tightly and releasing a shaky breath against his neck. Derek felt the ache of longing stir in his stomach and guiltily pushed it aside, accepting this moment of closeness as the forgiveness it was. 

Keeping his arms wrapped around Derek, Stiles pulled away slightly so their faces were meerly an inch apart, their noses a hair from brushing each other. Stiles gave him a weak smile, eyes flicking down to Derek’s lips momentarily before whispering, “Goodnight, Der.”

Before Derek could reply he was gone and Derek immediately missed his warmth. 

“Goodnight.” He whispered to nobody, still standing where Stiles had left him; where his feet felt like they were bolted to the floor. Derek realised how ridiculous he was being. It was just a hug, right? A hug between brothers, that doesn’t mean anything.

Regardless, as Derek fell asleep that night, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face if he tried. 

Maybe things would work out in the end after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed that! Let me know in the comments below if you'd like! 
> 
> Next chapter.. things will start to get really interesting. Should be posting real soon!
> 
> Until next time :))))


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